uLesson, a Nigerian ed-tech startup, has raised $15 million in Series B funding, which it will use to expand its team and improve services for its growing community of African learners.
uLesson intends to use the funds to continue investing in product development, strengthen its core technology, and expand its cohort-based learning features. In addition to its core science and mathematical content, the company will expand its secondary level content library to include social sciences and financial accounting, as well as qualitative and quantitative reasoning at the primary level.
“We’re thrilled to achieve this major milestone 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 Shagaya.
In January of this year, the startup raised a US$7.5 million Series A round, and within a year, it has moved on to Series B with a US$15 million investment. Nielsen Ventures and Tencent are among the investors, as are existing investors Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Founder Collective.
uLesson, founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur Sim Shagaya, provides primary and secondary school students with live online classes with experienced tutors, video lessons, and personalised live homework help through its website and app.
uLesson, which is available in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, the United States (US), and the United Kingdom (UK), had a 430 percent growth in daily average users in 2021, with positive learning outcomes.
David Frankel, managing partner at Founder Collective, said he truly believed that entrepreneurs could change the world, and had every hope uLesson would set new standards for education in Africa.
“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,” he said.