Co-Creation Hub’s edtech accelerator puts $15M towards African startups

Africa’s largest invention hub Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), is launching a $15 cardinal accelerator program, dubbed The Edtech Fellowship Program, to backmost and support 72 startups crossed Nigeria and Kenya complete nan adjacent 3 years, TechCrunch has learned.

According to a connection shared by nan firm, the accelerator programme will support and amplify nan effect of edtech startups crossed Africa, arsenic good arsenic support founders offering tech solutions that will reside learning invention successful an acquisition assemblage riddled pinch a plethora of issues. 

The sub-Saharan region has nan astir children and younker retired of school, pinch astir 98 cardinal children and young group excluded from education, per this report. Even for those successful school, nan value of acquisition crossed each levels, from K-12 to tertiary, is abysmal. For instance, students successful machine subject disciplines successful astir Nigerian universities are taught outdated programming languages pinch nary existent real-world applications. Other problems are inadequate funding, schoolhouse strikes, and encephalon drain. 

Over nan years, mobile and net penetration and entree to smartphones person increased; according to GSMA Intelligence’s report, mobile telephone subscribers accounted for 46% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population, while smartphone take was 64% successful 2021. This has allowed several edtech startups to create integer platforms that have, successful immoderate way, seen thousands of Africans person amended learning and activity opportunities. For instance, Tencent-backed uLesson, YC-backed Kidato and LocalGlobe-backed Foondamate connection learning programs, via different methods, to K-12 students while nan likes of Andela and GOMYCODE, among others, lucifer skilled tech professionals and students pinch section and overseas employers. 

While these platforms person achieved immoderate grade of success, they haven’t moved nan needle successful Africa’s billion-dollar edtech market. More edtech solutions must beryllium built and backed for that to happen. However, pinch edtech being Africa’s eighth astir invested sector, according to this report, its startups person their activity trim retired for them. Bosun Tijani, nan co-founder and CEO of CcHUB, holds 2 theories arsenic to why edtech’s maturation successful Africa is stunted and why its startups find it challenging to pull finance dollars. One, nan edtech abstraction is highly regulated, much than nan casual tech perceiver mightiness think. The different is that startups seldom liaise pinch nan authorities aliases acquisition institutions and vice versa. As such, Tijani thinks that launching an accelerator programme pinch an inclusive ecosystem could beryllium a harbinger of aggregate occurrence stories and a much mature edtech industry.

“If we put intentionally successful a very system edtech inclusive ecosystem of government, teachers, investors, foundations, and moreover successful immoderate cases, nan students and their parents, we judge that we tin statesman to summation a amended knowing of really to usage exertion to amended learning successful schools,” said Tijani successful an question and reply pinch TechCrunch. “It is important that erstwhile we build a programme that not only finds nan smartest group successful nan startup ecosystem, but besides connects nan startup ecosystem pinch authorities authorities, nationalist sectors, schools, and world institutions truthful that we tin guarantee that there’s a clear knowing of really to standard acquisition solutions successful nan space.”

The fellowship programme targets startups successful Nigeria and Kenya, 2 of nan continent’s biggest edtech markets. Of nan complete 300 startups successful some markets, tutorial apps and platforms emphasizing rote learning are among nan majority. Yet, Tijani said nan accelerator programme would effort to money solutions that play extracurricular this box. According to nan main executive, Africa’s $2 cardinal acquisition market, now much than ever, requires much unorthodox solutions. And CcHUB, which has tally respective edtech initiatives (one of which I person volunteered for) and backed successful and grounded edtech startups successful nan past via its incubator and accelerator programs, is hopeful of discovering specified solutions addressing challenges crossed K-12, tertiary and skills-to-jobs markets. 

“Our reasoning is rather broad. We cognize that nan halfway will astir apt beryllium narrowed down to a fewer areas depending connected what we see, but we’re challenging ourselves not to money nan astir evident solutions,” he noted. “We’re not conscionable going to backmost immoderate startup; we’re going to spot that these startups are besides driving learning outcomes.” 

CcHUB intends to return connected that task pinch nan thief of an in-house investigation squad dedicated to moving pinch portfolio startups and testing their products from motorboat to scale. They are portion of a 30-man squad crossed respective master groups CcHub will supply to selected startups successful some locations, including product development, authorities relations, pedagogy and learning science, portfolio management, communication, instructional creation and organization building. By offering shared resources, these groups will beryllium vital to really each startup carries retired squad building, MVP and prototyping testing, go-to-market strategies, engagement pinch organizations, and receiving feedback from users. These value-adds will besides complement nan first $100,000 backing startups get to entree during nan program.

“Over nan adjacent 3 years, we will person 72 edtech companies launched into nan market. We judge this will kickstart nan ecosystem and reboot it afresh because retired of that number, astatine slightest you’re judge astir half aliases 20-30% of them would unrecorded for different 3 to 4 years. And that will let america to cognize if exertion tin genuinely activity for acquisition successful Africa,” Tijani remarked. 

Supporting that galore startups successful 3 years propose CcHUB’s Edtech Fellowship programme will judge 24 startups successful Nigeria and Kenya yearly (12 each). Also, these startups receiving $100,000 first superior points to nan accelerator spending complete $7 cardinal connected conscionable investments. Tijani, besides nan CEO of Kenya’s iHub, said nan remaining superior will beryllium utilized to grip different resources successful nan accelerator, including unit costs arsenic good arsenic providing support superior to startups arsenic they progress.   

Outside nan accelerator program, there’s besides a proviso for follow-on finance that will connection diversification and little consequence for seed aliases Series A investors. According to Tijani, nan follow-on superior will travel from a $50 cardinal edtech money CcHUB plans to motorboat wrong nan adjacent 12-24 months; an anchor investor has committed an first $5 million, he said, while adding that nan invention hub is successful talks pinch telcos for illustration Safaricom and MTN to research arrangements that could spot them go not only investors successful nan money but besides distribution partners for edtech solutions successful nan Fellowship’s portfolio. 

“This is besides what’s unsocial astir this program. The group backing america are not conscionable saying, ‘this is money, spell and invest.’ They are putting superior tegument successful nan crippled and backing america to beryllium capable to raise capital, which is not communal successful nan VC space. The measurement we’re looking astatine our excavation of co-investors is stacked. We’re not only astatine VCs but improvement finance institutions and telcos. In general, this activity that CcHub is embarking connected will derisk finance for a batch of nan VCs retired location who whitethorn want to put money successful edtech startups,” expressed Tijani, who besides added that nan invention hub would beryllium taking roadshows successful India, Europe, and nan U.S. successful nan coming months to raise nan fund.