12 Nigerian startups are chosen by CcHUB for the Mastercard Foundation edtech Fellowship Program.

Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), Africa’s largest innovation hub, has chosen 12 firms for its inaugural Mastercard Foundation-sponsored edtech Fellowship Program after a three-month application and selection process.
According to BD Funding Tracker, the African edtech sector raised 0.72% of the continent’s total venture capital in 2022. CcHUB stated its plan to increase funding for this sector in February. The innovation cluster established a $15 million fund with a three-year investment goal of 72 edtech startups in Kenya and Nigeria.

“We think this will restart the ecology because, at the very least, you can be confident that half of them, or 20-30%, would live for another three to four years.

And by doing so, we’ll be able to determine whether technology can actually improve education in Africa, according to Bosun Tijani, co-founder and CEO of CcHUB, who spoke at the launch.

The 12 firms will receive equity-free capital of up to $100,000. There is possibility for follow-on investment after the program, which will provide diversification and reduce risk for seed or Series A investors.

Additionally, CcHUB revealed that its internal research team would collaborate with portfolio firms and test their goods from conception to expansion. Additionally, the hub will offer professional assistance in the areas of product development, public relations, pedagogy and learning science, portfolio management, communication, instructional design, and community building.

The program’s six-month accelerator phase, which was officially launched on Thursday in Lagos, will be carried out by the CcHUB team with ongoing advising support for an additional year.

The 12 chosen businesses deal with a variety of challenges, such as online learning content, learning management systems, workforce and skill development, support for STEAM education, tutoring and testing, and digital content.

Nine of the twelve firms that were chosen have female founders or management, thanks to CcHUB and the Mastercard Foundation’s deliberate outreach to female-led startups as part of their commitment to diversity and gender balance.

These 12 firms will join the CcHUB network of more than 1100 other businesses, all of which can be traced back to the hub’s innovation-focused initiatives and programs. Through their value chain, its portfolio firms have generated over 7,300 direct jobs and more than 35,000 indirect jobs.

Here are the startups:

EduTAM – A multi-tenant cloud-based school management system for basic and tertiary schools with a focus on API-based connectivity and interoperability of learners’ data for large education systems.

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

Gradely – 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.

Money Africa – A platform that provides financial literacy education for adults and children through digital content, personalized advisory, and an online community.

NKENNE – An African language learning app for Africans on the continent and in the diaspora with a focus on the context of African culture, tonality, and building social communities.

Davtonlearn – 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.

Qataloog – An online curator of curriculum-relevant content for learners across various levels and disciplines in K-12, tertiary, and TVET education.

SabiTeach – An online learning platform that seamlessly connects learners with qualified teachers for private sessions while also providing tutoring services for special needs children.

Schoolinka – 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 – An ed-tech solution that provides a comprehensive virtual school platform for creators and students to connect and learn.

Kunda Kids Ltd – An Edtech App that provides a collection of African-inspired stories and language learning content for children

Schoola  – A learning platform for K-12 schools that offers gamification and tools for fun, engaging, and interactive lesson preparation.