From uLessons to Edukoya, here are Nigeria top five educational technology companies for 2021
From uLessons to Edukoya, here are Nigeria's top five educational technology companies for 2021
The year 2021 was a fantastic one for the technology industry in general. While this was true across the board, there were some sectors that stood out more than others. There was, of course, fintech, which raised massive amounts of money in massive rounds of funding.
In the health technology sector, Helium Health completed a significant acquisition in a remote part of Asia, and 54Gene received significant funding to expand its offerings and modernize its facilities, among other developments.
The educational technology sector, on the other hand, was not overlooked. ULesson is establishing itself as the undisputed leader in that space, gaining significant traction while also securing a significant amount of funding. Edukoya, the startup that received significant funding while still in beta, was also a noteworthy addition to the list.
The following are Nigeria's top five educational technology platforms for the year 2021, so without further ado:
uLessons
We could discuss educational technology startups that achieved success in 2021, but uLessons seized the year from the start. With the completion of a $7.5 million Series A round in January, the leading educational technology company in Nigeria got the year off to a flying start.
You might have thought that was impressive, but the Sim Shagaya-led company went one step further in December when it announced a $15 million Series B round of funding. This was the largest publicly disclosed investment in an African edtech startup to date.
This round of funding was made possible by contributions from Tencent, Nielsen Ventures, as well as existing investors Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Founder Collective. The startup expects to raise $22.5 million in total by 2021. If that isn't awe-inspiring, what is?
Founded in 2019, the company claims that its app has received over 2 million downloads to date. Sim Shagaya is the company's founder. The company claims that over 12.3 million videos have been viewed and 25.6 million questions have been answered through its platform.
In addition, uLesson reported a 600 percent increase in paying users over the previous year, according to the company. According to Techcrunch, the number of monthly average users increased by 700 percent, while the number of daily average users increased by 430 percent.
Since the company's launch in September 2021, the demand for live lessons has increased by 222 percent, according to the company's statistics. To date, the company has raised a total of $25.6 million in publicly disclosed funding.
Africa's Alternative Educational Institution
AltSchool Africa is one of my favorite success stories in the Nigerian edtech space for the year 2021, and I expect it to continue to grow in the coming years. Because its goal is unique: to train tech talent for free and then certify them with a globally recognized certification, it has garnered widespread attention. It would essentially become Africa's first developer certification institution as a result of this move.
In order to accomplish this, the digital institution hopes to collaborate with Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (MCIU), which will serve as the issuing institution for certificates in Ughelli Delta State.
A subsidiary of TalentQL, a technology talent outsourcing company, AltSchool was established in October 2021 with the goal of eliminating poverty in Africa through the democratization of access to technology training. The institution does not charge tuition and works with students to help them find employment after they have completed their training.
In his words, "We are placing our faith in their ability to succeed, which is why we are willing to invest in their education." There are no additional fees. There is no requirement for students to pay a kobo. The co-founder and CEO of TalentQL stated, "That is something we will take care of." "
AltSchool's 'early bird' phase for first-time applicants will begin in early January with an initial assessment of their skills and abilities. Mentor-based education would concentrate on three primary areas: front end development, back end development, and cloud computing engineering. It is anticipated that the program will last nine months, after which students will be placed in three-month internships to complete their education.
Edukoya
Edukoya launched in December and made a big splash with its fundraising efforts right away. An incredible $3.5 million in funding from seemingly nowhere for a startup in the education technology space that was still in beta was truly extraordinary.
There has never been a pre-seed round of funding raised by an African edtech platform like this one.
It is the mission of Edukoya, which was founded by Honey Ogundeyi in 2021, to build the world's largest online learning platform for Africans by making high-quality educational materials and support more accessible and affordable. With this project, we hope to reimagine how African students learn in an age of mobile devices.
As part of this effort, it plans to connect African students to digital curricula and on-demand teachers to provide real-time online learning opportunities. Both the United Kingdom and Nigeria are home to the company's headquarters and operations.
It is claimed by the startup that its app was the second most downloaded education app in Nigeria during its first week of operation.
Edves
The Edves team takes a different approach than other education technology startups, which may be focused on connecting students online. With this approach, schools are brought online through the use of a cloud-based platform, which is simple and straightforward.
Edward Falana and Dare Adebayo founded Edves, a cloud-based school management software platform, in September 2016 as a joint venture between themselves. It provides a comprehensive set of services that enable schools to manage a variety of tasks such as report cards, fees, digital learning, and student enrollment, among other things.
Along with its efforts to develop a digital infrastructure, the company also aims to make it easier to communicate between teachers, parents, and administrators in order to deliver education and facilitate collaboration on learners' progress toward learning objectives, as well as track and analyze learning outcomes.
Likewise, the platform provides parents with the ability to view certain information about their children/wards as well as to make payment for services. In recognition of the fact that not all parents are technologically literate, these details can be accessed via text message, email, an application, or directly from the web platform.
An additional $575,00 in seed funding was raised by the edtech platform in October, allowing it to continue developing its products and expanding its reach to schools nationwide. It had been more than three years since CCHub and Chinook Capital provided the initial seed funding of $120,000 to the company.
Stranerd
While studying and learning are intrinsically rewarding activities, what about an edtech startup that allows students to earn money while they learn? What Stranerd, a newly launched Nigerian educational technology platform, is offering its users is exactly what it claims to be doing.
The edtech startup, which was founded in August 2021 (Beta) by Jeremiah Godwin (CEO) and Timmy Salami (COO/CFO), began as an Instagram page dedicated to assisting primarily international students with their academic endeavors.
However, the number of Nigerian students in need of educational technology services increased significantly during the pandemic of 2020. As a result of their research, they discovered that, with the exception of platforms such as Ulesson, which are geared toward K-2 students, A-Level and university students did not have access to a single platform that could meet all of their educational needs.
Also, Stranerd operates an on-site Coin System, which serves as a virtual currency and reward system. In the same way that physical cash is used, the coin system is used to facilitate all platform transactions. It is possible for users to accumulate and spend these coins on the platform's services and products.
Stranerd provides students with a fun and enjoyable way to learn by encouraging them to interact with their peers. As an added bonus, it provides them with an opportunity to earn money while also teaching them how to be fiscally responsible by allowing them to spend their coins on necessary items. This is one of the reasons why we believe this startup is different from the rest.
