uLesson Secures $7.5m To Push Edtech Solution Into Eastern, Southern Africa
uLesson Secures $7.5m To Push Edtech Solution Into Eastern, Southern Africa
Nigerian educational and learning technology platform, uLesson announced today that it has closed a $7.5m Series A round.
A year after it raised $3.1m, Nigerian Edtech platform uLesson founded by former Konga’s CEO Sim Shagaya, announced today that it has closed a $7.5m Series A round.
uLesson, which was founded in 2019 by serial and high-profile entrepreneur, Sim Shagaya.
What uLesson tries to do is to bridge educational gaps for K-7 to K-12 students across Africa by delivering affordable, high-quality and accessible education using technology. It makes studying from home fun and fulfilling.
This funding round was led by US-based Owl Ventures, the largest fund focused on the world’s edtech market, with over $1.2 billion in assets under management.
Existing investors, TLcom Capital — the lead investor in uLesson’s $3.1m seed round — and Founder Collective also participated, with LocalGlobe joining as a first-time investor.
Tory Patterson who is the managing director of Owl Ventures, now joins the uLesson board. There, he sits alongside TLcom partners, Omobola Johnson and Ido Sum who joined two years ago.
The managing director of owl Ventures — Tony patterson says and I quote “Speaking on this funding round, Owl Ventures is honoured to be partnering with uLesson for their Series A. The company has quickly grown into the premier platform supporting students in Africa and we are excited to support their global expansion, as they seek to empower students around the world.”
Other investors — David Frankel of Founder Collective, Ido Sum of TLcom, and Suzanne Ashman of LocalGlobe — also spoke of Shagaya’s pull as a founder, the size of the Nigerian and African edtech market, and uLesson’s potential to become a juggernaut in the space as reasons for taking part in the Series A round.
uLesson collates different curriculum and a network of tutors for thousands of students. It does this by leveraging mobile phones and providing a product pack of SD cards, dongle, and a set of headphones to students.
They can access lessons via streaming or use the SD cards to download and store the content. This allows the students to study remotely, removing challenges around internet access limitations and costs.
uLesson’s content is originally tailored for K-12 students in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Gambia. Also, it now includes the IGCSE curriculum, which is relevant for these markets as well.
Having made significant progress in West Africa with over a million downloads on play store, uLesson is looking to expand to eastern and southern Africa.
Alongside uLesson’s expansion, the startup is set to launch a host of new products including a new pan-African primary school library, 1-on-1 tutoring sessions, and Challenge – its new feature that allows learners to challenge friends to a quiz. The platform has also set its sights on launching an iOS app in the near future.
REFERENCE
1.Nigerian edtech startup, uLesson, raises $7.5m Series A led by Owl Ventures
https://techpoint.africa/2021/01/19/ulesson-raises-7-5m-series-a/
2. Sim Shagaya’s uLesson raises $7.5 million Series A
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