Nigeria’s Edukoya raises $3.5m backed by Target Global, Paystack co-founder
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Edukoya, an Africa-focused online learning platform, has received fund backing totalling $3.5 million in a pre-seed round that had Berlin, Germany headquartered international investment firm, Target Global, and Paystack founder, as well as the strategic participation of angel investors, including Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha, founders of Kuda; Brandon Krieg and Ed Robinson, founders of Fintech Stash; Raffael Johnen, chief executive officer of Aux Money, and Shola Akinlade, chief executive officer and co-founder of Paystack (acquired by Stripe).
Germany’s Target Global is an international investment firm and has over €1.5 billion in capital commitments and co-investments around the world and its backing of Edukoya is seen as making further inroads into the African technology startup ecosystem.
This funding, the largest pre-seed round for an African EdTech platform to date, will see Edukoya transition from beta to live launch in 2022 and also enable it expand its team, grow its user base and build out the technology for Edukoya’s learning platform, including support for its pan African and European developer hubs.
Launched in December 2021, Edukoya, which at the moment operates in beta and with a focus on Nigeria, will empower learners and their parents to take control of their learning and make 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 a 24/7 Exam Preparation & Homework tutor help, a data driven question bank with step by step solutions and personalised performance tracking systems.
Honey Ogundeyi, founder and chief executive officer of Edukayo, while speaking on the funding said, “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 260 [million] students and counting. Our goal is to democratise access and make high quality instruction and content accessible and affordable to every student, regardless of where he or she lives on the continent.”
Also, Lina Chong, investment director at Target Global 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.”
In the launch week in December, the education technology company that connects African students with the digital curriculum content and on-demand teachers for real-time online learning, was the second most downloaded education app in Nigeria.
However, with the new funds from the angel investors, Edukoya plans to accelerate its product and technology, as well as expand its online curriculum content coverage and on demand tutoring feature for secondary school learners.