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The accelerator program plans to invest $15 million in 72 Edtech startups across Nigeria and Kenya from now until 2025. CcHub’s CEO, Bosun Tijani, stated that this initiative will revitalize the Edtech ecosystem by launching 72 companies into the market, of which at least half or 20-30% are expected to remain in operation for the next three to four years, enabling the testing of technology’s impact on education in Africa. Through this accelerator program, CcHub’s in-house research team will collaborate with portfolio startups to test their products from the launch stage through to scaling up. The program will provide selected startups in Nigeria and Kenya with a range of resources, including product development, government relations, pedagogy and learning science, portfolio management, communication, instructional design, and community building. In addition to the initial $100,000 funding that startups receive during the program, the program offers follow-on investment opportunities to reduce the risk for seed or Series A investors. The shared resources provided by the program will be invaluable in enabling each startup to carry out team building, MVP and prototyping testing, go-to-market strategies, engagement with organizations, and receiving feedback from users.
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Tijani, in an interview with TechCrunch, suggested that by investing deliberately in a well-structured Edtech ecosystem that involves government, teachers, investors, foundations, and sometimes even students and their parents, we can enhance our knowledge of how to effectively use technology to improve learning in schools. It’s crucial to create a program that seeks out the most talented individuals in the startup ecosystem and connects them with government authorities, public sectors, schools, and academic institutions. This approach ensures a clear understanding of how to expand education solutions in this field.
CcHub and the Edtech Sector in Africa
The introduction of this fund is an indication of the ongoing interest of the innovation hub led by Tijani in the Edtech sector. In 2020, CcHub purchased eLimu, which is a top Kenyan Edtech firm and a provider of digital educational content. The aim of this acquisition, as per CcHUB, was to transform eLimu into its arm for a digital education platform. Before this acquisition, CcHUB collaborated with Nigeria’s premier university of education, Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), in 2019 to create an Edtech Centre of Excellence.Register to attend the CN Business Mixer
Also, iHub, which CcHub acquired in 2019, opened the iHub Teachers’ Lounge in August 2020 to train teachers in 21st-century teaching methods and online teaching tools for more effective collaboration and teaching in classrooms. CcHUB has a network of over 650 startups throughout Africa that can trace their origins to the hub’s innovation-focused initiatives and interventions. Its portfolio firms have generated over 7,300 direct employment opportunities, and more than 35,000 indirect jobs have been created via their value chain. CcHUB has invested over $1,000,000 in direct startups and has helped the startups in their portfolio in attracting more than $61 million in external funding. Featured Image Source: Techpoint Africa
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