Edtech startup uLesson has raised $15 million in series B funding, to increase hiring across products, technology and operations to improve its services for its growing community of learners across Africa.
The funding was led by Nielsen Ventures and Tencent.
Other existing investors who participated in the funding include Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Founder Collective, making it the largest investment in an African edtech company.
“We’re thrilled to achieve this 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 Sim Shagaya, uLesson Chief Executive Officer.
Founded in 2019 by Sim Shagaya, uLesson is a Nigerian technology education company that is on a mission to provide high quality, affordable and accessible education to all Africans.
Since launch, uLesson has seen incredible traction from learners. In 2021, daily average users surged 430 percent and live lesson demand grew by 222 percent since their introduction in September. The uLesson app has been downloaded two million times, 12.3 million videos watched and 25.6 million questions answered.
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With the funding raised, uLesson plans to continue to invest in product development, strengthen its core technology and add cohort-based learning features. It will also expand its flagship science and mathematics content, by adding social sciences and financial accounting to the secondary level content library, and qualitative and quantitative reasoning to primary level.
uLesson is accessible in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, the United States (US), and the United Kingdom (UK).
According to uLesson’s findings, Africa’s education system is severely challenged. Pupil to trained teacher ratios are 58:1 at the primary level and 43:1 at secondary level and these are some of the highest in the world.
Classrooms are poorly equipped and learning outcomes are difficult to ascertain. Despite the poor state of the education system, African families deeply value education for its ability to unlock opportunities and provide social mobility.
“I truly believe entrepreneurs can change the world. At Founder Collective, I’ve watched Uber upend transportation, Coupang re-envision ecommerce, and I have every hope that uLesson will set new standards for education in Africa,” says David Frankel, Managing Partner at Founder Collective.
Online learning demand has only accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to enduring behavioral changes among African families. Families have embraced online methods as they have become more cautious in allowing tutors into the home.
“The incredible talent on the continent has been held back for too long by a lack of opportunities. So I couldn’t be a more enthusiastic supporter of Sim Shagaya and his vision for more accessible and affordable educational opportunities for millions of people,” Frankel said.
With uLesson, learners have mastered the core curriculum, improved their test scores, and renewed their confidence in learning. Some uLesson learners have moved from the 50th percentile to the 90th percentile in their class, one whole standard deviation.
