North Africa: iSchool raises $4.5m led by VentureWave Capital
Edtech startup iSchool has raised $4.5 million in a funding round led by VentureWave Capital, an Irish VC.
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Edtech startup iSchool has raised $4.5 million in a funding round led by VentureWave Capital, an Irish VC, with further participation from OneStop Capital UK, Webit Investment Network, and Oraseya Capital, the venture capital arm of Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority.
Through its platform, iSchool offers live gamified classes led by top coding instructors, catering to students aged six to 18. The curriculum spans AI, VR, app development, game development, and web development, fostering foundational concepts from early childhood.
iSchool’s journey began in 2018 as a solution for the 100 million students that don’t have access to technology education curriculums or programs in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Today, iSchool has more than 26,000 live learners, delivered over 1,000,000 training hours, and its students have written more than 10,000,000 lines of code. It works with 35 schools, providing technical training and computer science labs. This collaboration has led iSchool to manage national-level initiatives in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The newly raised capital will drive iSchool's expansion into six additional countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Muhammad Gawish, co-founder and CEO at iSchool said, "We started out by teaching tech for K12 students, and today we are giving the world access to thousands of top notch coding instructors from their comfort at home with a click of a button. Our mission is to empower today’s generations to become tomorrow's technology leaders beginning in the Middle East and Africa, spreading to the rest of the world. Using dynamic technology and a deep understanding of the end-to-end live classes process, we are growing a simple idea into a product that we believe can improve the lives of millions of people.
"We are delighted to be joined by a number of vastly-experienced and strategic investors, whose expertise will not only play a vital role ahead of our future expansion, but also in our current activities managing national level initiatives in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates"
Kieran McLoughlin, managing partner of VentureWave Capital said, "VentureWave Capital is thrilled to lead this funding round for iSchool and to back such an innovative company that is making a significant impact on education in the Middle East and Africa. This investment aligns perfectly with our mission to achieve social progress by supporting transformative entrepreneurs. We are delighted to play our part in iSchool's ambitious plans to bring their unique educational model to new markets and to empowering the next generation of technology leaders."
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