Transforming Education Through Tech and Inclusion
Founded in Kāpiti during lockdown, Pipi Learning is revolutionising vocational eLearning with engaging, interactive modules. Led by psychologist-turned-entrepreneur Elizabeth Asbury, the female-led team is making education more accessible. With growing international partnerships, Pipi Learning proves that innovation, diversity, and flexible work environments drive success in the tech and education sectors.
Elizabeth Asbury never planned to run a tech company. In fact, the Pipi Learning co-founder hadn’t ever written a line of code.
But with her background as a psychologist in clinical trials, Elizabeth understood learning and she understood people.
“After moving from the UK to Kāpiti sixteen years ago, I was a stay-at-home mum, until I went bananas,” jokes Elizabeth, who has a PhD in psychology from a top 7 university. “I ended up working in hospitality because it fit in with my childcare.”
Later, Elizabeth became Research Manager at a polytechnic, where she met future Pipi Learning co-founders Georgina Orsborn and Emma Addington. “We realised there was a gap for vocational eLearning that was actually engaging and easy to use.”
Then Covid hit. “Our whole team was disestablished on the first day of lockdown. Two days later, someone rang needing urgent training for airport security staff going into MIQ,” she recalls. “We built a module in a week using a free trial of some software. That’s where Pipi Learning started.”
“If we’d been in a bigger centre, I don’t think we would’ve had the same traction”
Their eLearning modules – interactive electronic style books – blend animation, video, storytelling and built-in tracking.
By 2021, Elizabeth left the polytechnic to focus on Pipi Learning, which has grown to a six-person team that delivers learning solutions across Aotearoa and beyond.
“We were invited to Singapore last year to showcase our work. That’s led to exciting new partnerships. This year, things have exploded!”
Being based in Kāpiti has helped. “If we’d been in a bigger centre, I don’t think we would’ve had the same traction,” she says. “The Kāpiti Coast District Council has been brilliant. They connected us into the local tech network and introduced us to Elevate Aotearoa, which opened doors for us. We’re taking the whole team in the future.”
Elizabeth is proud that all but one of Pipi Learning’s employees are female.
“We like to employ women who have fantastic skills. We’ve built a workplace that fits around real life.”
