Educational tech firm uLesson raises $15m Series-B investment

Educational technology giants uLesson recently announced that they “ closed a $15M Series-B investment from Nielsen Ventures and Tencent, as well as existing investors, Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Founder Collective” in what is now one of the largest investments in an African edtech company.

“We are thrilled to achieve this major milestone which will take us further in bringing high quality and affordable education to all Africans,” said Sim Shagaya the uLesson CEO in Nigeria. 

Across the globe, online learning demand significantly accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic that forced behavioral changes amongst families, including in Africa.

“We are delighted to be joined by seasoned investors who bring a wealth of experience from their investments in education technology,” Shagaya observed adding that: “Backed by incredible partners, we can accelerate our learning to serve the African edtech market more effectively.”

With the capital, uLesson plans to invest in product development, strengthen its core technology and add cohort-based learning features. Expanding on its flagship science and mathematics content, the company will add social sciences and financial accounting to the secondary level content library and qualitative and quantitative reasoning to primary level.

 “I have every hope that uLesson will set new standards for education in Africa," the Managing Partner at Founder Collective David Frankel remarked.

In Africa like elsewhere, several families have embraced online methods as they have become more cautious in allowing tutors into the home. Uncertainty over future school closures has led to parents investing in smartphones for their children’s schooling. Roughly 50% of uLesson Application learners use their parents’ handsets.

"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,” Mr Frankel said early December.

Two million videos

Africa’s severely challenged education system has a pupil to trained teacher ratios of 58:1 at the primary level and 43:1 at secondary level which are some of the highest in the world.

In a continent dominated by poorly equipped classrooms amidst learning outcomes difficult to ascertain, “some African families deeply value education for its ability to unlock opportunities and provide social mobility.”

“uLesson has seen incredible traction from learners. In 2021, daily average users surged 430%, and live lesson demand grew by 222% since their introduction in September,” the tech firm informed.

The uLesson app has been downloaded two million times with about 12.3m videos watched and 25.6m questions answered, this publication has learnt.