Nigerian ed-tech startup uLesson obtains $15m Series B investment
uLesson, a Nigerian ed-tech startup, has raised $15 million in Series B funding, which it will use to expand its team and improve services for its growing community of African learners.
uLesson, founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur Sim Shagaya, provides live online classes with expert tutors, video lessons, and personalized live homework help for primary and secondary school students online and through its app.
uLesson, which is available in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, the United States (US), and the United Kingdom (UK), saw a 430 percent increase in daily average users in 2021, while also reporting positive changes in learning outcomes.
The startup raised a US$7.5 million Series A round in January of this year, and has since moved on to Series B with a US$15 million investment within a year. Nielsen Ventures and Tencent, as well as existing investors Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Founder Collective, contributed to the funding.
uLesson intends to use the funds to continue investing in product development, strengthen its core technology, and add cohort-based learning features. In addition to its flagship science and mathematics content, the company will expand the secondary level content library with social sciences and financial accounting, and the primary level content library with qualitative and quantitative reasoning.
“We’re thrilled to achieve this major milestone which will take us further in bringing high quality and affordable education to all Africans. We’re delighted to be joined by seasoned investors, like Tencent, who bring a wealth of experience from their investments in education technology. Backed by incredible partners, we can accelerate our learning to serve the African edtech market more effectively,” said Shagaya.
David Frankel, managing partner at Founder Collective, stated that he believed entrepreneurs could change the world and hoped uLesson would set new standards for education in Africa.
“For far too long, the continent’s incredible talent has been stifled by a lack of opportunities.” “As a result, I couldn’t be a more ardent supporter of Sim Shagaya and his vision for more accessible and affordable educational opportunities for millions of people,” he said.
