Nigerian online learning platform Edukoya has raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding led by European VC firm Target Global.
The startup which builds online education content and offers online tutoring for students and their parents plans to use the new funding go from beta to live launch in Nigeria by 2022. It will also accelerate its product and technology as well as expand its online curriculum content coverage and on-demand tutoring feature for secondary school learners.
Launched in December 2021, Edukoya has been operating in beta, with a focus on Nigeria. In its launch week, Edukoya was the 2nd most downloaded education app in Nigeria.
The edtech startup also plans to use the new funds, the largest pre-seed round for an African EdTech platform to date to expand its team, growth its user base and build out the technology for Edukoya’s learning platform, including support for its Pan African and European developer hubs.
Edukoya empowers learners and their parents to take control of their learning and makes it easier for them to access high quality learning material and expert help. The platform has a range of valuable features targeted at Nigerian secondary school learners including 24/7 Exam Preparation and Homework tutor help, a data driven question bank with step by step solutions and personalised performance tracking systems.
High quality education is expensive and out of reach for millions of African learners. According to data from the World Bank, African households spend 20-25 percent of their annual GDP per capita on education. Edukoya offers a free, supplementary learning platform, as well as subscription packages with premium features, focused on K-12 learning and exam preparation. The learning experience is delivered through a 100 percent online model which promotes self learning and allows learners to save time, save money and get smarter.
“Our vision at Edukoya is to redefine online education for the next generation of Africans. Africa has the fastest-growing school-age population globally, with over 260M students and counting. Our goal is to democratize access and make high quality instruction and content accessible and affordable to every student, regardless of where he or she lives on the continent” Honey Ogundeyi, Founder and CEO of Edukayo said.
`We are delighted to lead this investment and partner with Honey and her impressive team of education technology pioneers. Edukoya’s mission to provide better quality to millions of African Students, combined with the team’s ability to execute on this ambition, left an immediate impression on myself and the whole team at Target Global. Their business has the potential to unlock learner potential and improve lives across generations”. Lina Chong, Investment Director at Target Global, said.
Other participating angel investors in the round included European and African founders such as Shola Akinlade – CEO and co-founder of Paystack (acquired by Stripe), Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha – founders of Kuda, Brandon Krieg and Ed Robinson – founders of Fintech Stash and Raffael Johnen – CEO of Aux Money among others.
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