Twelve Kenyan startups advancing innovation in the education sector have secured $ 1.2 million (Sh183.5 million) to scale up their enterprises over the next three years.
Through the Edtech Fellowship Programme by MasterCard Foundation and iHub, each of the firms will take home $100,000 (Sh15.4 million) to equip learners with relevant and quality education through the use of technology.
The funding comes as a timely boost at a time when the country has been pushing for digitisation of the education system.
Speaking during the demo day event for the first cohorts of the MasterCard Foundation EdTech Fellowship Programme, managing partner Nissi Madu said the successful firms were required to have an I-tech solution which addresses learning challenges or learning gaps from early learning to working skills in the formal, informal or corporate world.
"They also needed to be at a certain level of revenue attraction and show that they are willing and excited to receive the support needed to amplify and do more than they were already doing and that the solutions can reach a lot more learners across Kenya," said Madu.
iHub Kenya signed up 12 educational technology (EdTech)startups in six months which underwent an acceleration programme to enable them to amplify support around products, talents, distribution and funding.
During a demonstration event of the selected tech firms, MasterCard Foundation Lead for Strategic Partnership Suraj Shah said the programme is expected to reach at least 2 million learners by 2026.
Already, MasterCard Foundation has rolled out two such fellowships in South Africa through Injini and Nigeria through CoCreation incubation hubs.
“Each hub will have 12 tech edtech companies with innovative ideas to help them build their business skills, grow as a company, fine-tune solutions to ensure the science of learning is embedded in the solutions and help them scale to reach a wider number of students,” said Suraj.
With the Sh183.6 million funding, the startups have undergone an acceleration programme where they have gotten expert support on the solutions, talent and distribution to ensure the solution improves learning outcomes for learners in the country.
“For us, the biggest focus is that these solutions actually lead to improving learning outcomes. We won’t improve learning outcomes if we are not adopting the science of learning and how the products themselves are designed. So that is one of the access that they have,” said Nissi Madu, iHub Managing Partner.
The programme which also targets to ensure learners are equipped with relevant skills for the future will see the two organizations develop an edtech ecosystem developing local solutions that can be adopted by policymakers to improve learning.
The startups that have benefited in the first cohort include FunKE Science, LoHo Learning, Angaza Elimu, Snapplify, Arifu, Easy Elimu, Elewa, Kidato, Ntemata, Silabu, Smart Brains Kenya, and Virtual Essence.
MasterCard Foundation plans to empower 12 tech hubs across Africa to reach 250 edtech companies in Africa within three years to improve learning outcomes in the continent.