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A Bristol-based software company has been awarded £20,000 to develop a digital training platform for workforces in developing countries.

Learn.ink has developed a new smartphone application which has so far allowed more than 100 organisations in 35 countries to create courses on a range of activities from farming techniques to solar panel installation.

The start-up was founded by entrepreneurs Georgia Barrie and Adam Wills, who after working with farmers in Kenya saw the potential of increased smartphone use within more remote communities in order to boost local economies.

Learn.ink’s tech is designed to quickly load on low-end devices and have offline capability so it can be used by people with limited or no internet connection.

The platform’s ‘chat’ style interface includes games, challenges, quizzes and sound effects while it also enables employers and training organisations to monitor learners’ progress through the courses.

The business has now been awarded a £20,000 grant by the West of England Growth Hub’s Business Innovation Fund to scale the rollout of its tool.

It comes after Ms Barrie was previously recognised by government agency Innovate º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s Women in Innovation Awards, where she won a £50,000 grant, mentoring and growth support to help secure further funding for Learn.ink.

Ms Barrie, chief executive of Learn.ink, credited Innovate º£½ÇÊÓƵ EDGE funding specialist Adele Reynolds for helping the business with its latest funding application.