How Somuyiwa taps AI to teach, guide students

Olusola Somuyiwa, co- founder and chief executive officer of VersityEdge, an edtech startup that uses AI to prepare and guide students on their admission journey.

Somuyiwa was inspired to venture into the business of helping students get admission into higher institutions easily due to his passion for education, and empathy for many students struggling to get into universities without success.

“The year is 2018 when I secured admission to study Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan, the only admission from my secondary school of 148 graduates.

I met my cofounder who also secured admission, but had been on the journey since 2015. She showed me the struggles and the challenges students faced on their admission journey,” he narrated.

Based on the information gathered, he and his co-founder decided to talk and collect data from students to understand why hundreds of thousands of students face these struggles every year.

“We met a 22 year old female from the southeast who has been on the admission journey for five years applying to University of Lagos to study Medicine and Surgery.

“I was curious to know why she was not securing admission despite having 338 in one of her JAMB scores. I requested for her O’levels and right there, I told her she can’t secure admission to study Medicine and Surgery at the University of Lagos.

At that point, I became her enemy but extended her a free consultation where I was able to analyse her O’level, preferences and choices to suggest 10 institutions where she had higher chances of securing admission, and University of Lagos was not one of them. We decided to build an AI to automate this process and turn it into a business,” he explained.

The Clinton Global University graduate where he focused on admission-related projects believes his experience which further deepened his understanding of the global education landscape is crucial in mentoring and guiding students in their admission journeys.

“Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of teaching and mentoring over 700 students, helping them navigate the complexities of college admissions. This experience has been invaluable in shaping VersityEdge’s approach to student support.

“Our AI algorithms analyse a student’s academic history, strengths, and aspirations, cross-referencing this data with historical admission trends across multiple institutions. This allows us to provide tailored strategies that significantly increase a student’s chances of admission to their desired programmes,” he said.

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The AI and Machine Learning certifications holder from Stanford University, explained that at VersityEdge, it is more than just predictions and probabilities.

“We’ve created an immersive, incubator-like environment where students engage in daily live classes, access curated study materials, and participate in AI-powered mock examinations.

“These examinations don’t just test knowledge; they identify specific areas for improvement and automatically adjust the learning path to address these gaps,” he noted.

Somuyiwa explained that though he started the business with zero capital in 2023, he was able to generate profits running in millions.

“We started VersityEdge with zero naira as students of the University of Ibadan, as an impact project where we counsel and guide aspirants of the University of Ibadan. We had great success on the impact side but were not making money.

“We noticed some students didn’t secure admission despite guiding them. We looked into the why, and decided to introduce past questions, live classes and study materials, and from there we had a 90 percent admission success rate. We generated our first million in less than 2 months,” he said.

Speaking on the niche his business has over its competitors, he said; “What makes us unique is we provide admission insights helping students know their chances of admission as they use our platform to prepare for their examination.

“We analyse their strength and weakness, provide personalised support so they can be better prepare on the exam day. We also offer a parent dashboard where they can monitor their child’s progress and receive weekly reports.”

He said the firm’s expansion plans include multiplying their process across institutions.

“We want to start preparing as many students as possible for admission in 2025 transforming their dreams to reality. Our eyes are on the African Market,” he said.

Somuyiwa cited funding as one of the company’s biggest challenges, and second being finding and onboarding the right people on the team.

For the funding challenge, he said they’re applying for grants, besides pitching their business to angel investors.

He would encourage upcoming entrepreneurship to focus on the big vision and why he/she started his/her business.

“Challenges will surely come, ready to blow you off the market, but your grit and belief in your vision will keep you standing,” he said.