CcHUB selects Money Africa, Gradely and 10 other Nigerian startups for edtech fellowship

After three months of application and selection process, Africa's largest innovation hub Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) has selected 12 startups for its inaugural Mastercard Foundation-backed edtech Fellowship Program.

In February, CcHUB announced its plan to improve funding into the African edtech sector, which raised 0.72% of the total venture capital on the continent in 2022, according to BD Funding Tracker. The innovation hub launched a $15 million fund with a plan to invest in 72 Nigerian and Kenyan edtech startups in the next three years.

"We believe this will kickstart the ecosystem and reboot it afresh because out of that number, at least you're sure about half or 20-30% of them would live for another three to four years. And that will allow us to know if technology can truly work for education in Africa," Bosun Tijani, the co-founder and CEO of CcHUB, said at the launch.

The 12 startups selected for the Nigerian inaugural cohort will receive up to $100,000 in equity-free funding. After the program, there is room for follow-on investment that will offer diversification and lower risk for seed or Series A investors.

CcHUB also disclosed that its in-house research team will work with portfolio startups and test their products from launch to scale. The hub will also provide expert support in product development, government relations, pedagogy and learning science, portfolio management, communication, instructional design and community building.

The program, which officially kicked off on Thursday in Lagos, will include a six-month accelerator phase, delivered by the CcHUB team with continued advisory support over another 12 months.

Meet the inaugural cohort of the CcHUB's Mastercard Foundation-backed edtech fellowship

The 12 selected startups address a wide range of issues including digital content, learning management platforms, workforce and skill, STEAM education support, tutoring and testing, and online learning content.

As part of its drive for inclusion and gender balance, CcHUB and the Mastercard Foundation were intentional about reaching out to female-led startups, which has ensured that nine of the selected 12 startups have female founders and management personnel.

The selected Nigerian edtech startups include; Money Africa, Kunda Kids, Gradely, EduTAM, 9ijakids, NKENNE, Davtonlearn, Qataloog, SabiTeach, Schoolinka, Go2Course and Schoola.

Money Africa

Founded by Oluwatosin Olaseinde, Money Africa provides financial literacy education for adults and children through digital content, personalised advisory, and an online community.

Kunda Kids

After Oladele and Louisa Olafuyi could not find materials about African culture to teach their son, they decided to change the narrative by starting Kunda Kids, a series of African history books for children, especially in the diaspora.

Recently, the London-based edtech and media publishing company Kunda Kids has raised $700,000 pre-seed in a round led by Zrosk Investment Management.

Gradely

Gradely is a solution that empowers parents and schools with a toolbox to provide personalized learning of the standard exams curriculum through interactive videos, an extensive practice test bank, and live tutoring.

EduTAM

Based in Ogun state, EduTAM is a multi-tenant cloud-based school management system for basic and tertiary schools focusing on API-based connectivity and interoperability of learners’ data for large education systems.

9ijakids

9ijakids is an online platform creating exciting learning experiences to help children fall in love with learning using games.

SabiTeach

SabiTeach is a marketplace for live online learning that connects learners with qualified teachers for private sessions while also providing tutoring services for special needs children.

The edtech has grown to have over 3000 educators teaching hundreds of lessons weekly, across Africa, Canada and the UK.

Qataloog

Qataloog is a Lagos-based edtech that curates curriculum-relevant content for learners across various levels and disciplines in K-12, tertiary, and TVET education.

NKENNE

NKENNE is an African language learning app for Africans on the continent and in the diaspora, focusing on the context of African culture, tonality, and building social communities.

Davtonlearn

Davtonlearn is a SaaS learning management system for corporate organizations to onboard and train their staff in line with each company’s corporate objectives and workforce goals.

Schoolinka

Founded in 2019, Schoolinka is a digital platform improving the pipeline of quality educators by upskilling teachers and accelerating top teaching talent to improve the standard of education in Africa.

Go2Course

This is an ed-tech solution that provides a comprehensive virtual school platform for creators and students to connect and learn.

Schoola

Schoola creates lessons with fun quizzes to keep learners engaged using its learning app that rewards them for learning. Also, parents get real-time insight from students’ performance on the go.

These 12 startups will join CcHUB's network of more than 1100 startups who can trace their roots to the hub's innovation-focused programs and interventions. Its portfolio companies have created over 7,300 direct and 35,000+ indirect jobs through their value chain.