To establish an alternative school for Africans, $1 M raised by Nigerian ed-tech startup AltSchool Africa
With its flexible educational curriculum, Nigerian ed-tech company AltSchool Africa has received a US $1 million pre-seed fundraising round to address the persisting problem of talent scarcity in the digital environment.
AltSchool, which was founded last year by Adewale Yusuf and Sultan Akintade, who are also co-founders of another Nigerian ed-tech firm, TalentQL, promises to provide Africans with in-demand digital and employability skills to help them begin their careers.
“After the launch of TalentQL, we noticed that there was very high demand and very little supply. And even with the supply, there was a huge employability gap. Although talents possessed good technical skills, they lacked some necessary foundational skills required to make the mark. AltSchool Africa emerged to address these needs,” Akintunde said.
AltSchool Africa has received over 8,000 applications from 20 different nations in the four months since its introduction, with the first cohort set to begin in April 2022. It has already secured a US$1 million pre-seed round from institutional investors including Voltron Capital, NestCoin, Odba VC, and Pledges to assist its expansion.
Local investors Olugbenga Agboola of Flutterwave, Shola Akinlade of Paystack, Dr. Ola Brown, and entertainment stars Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana and Akitoye Balogun, commonly known as ‘Ajebutter22’ also took part in the round.
This money will go toward expanding the startup’s personnel and upgrading its infrastructure. AltSchool Africa has plans to expand on its current programmes in order to fulfil the demand from millions of Africans who will require computer skills training or retraining.
“We have a unique vision to build world-class tech talents who will make a huge impact in the tech talent market. Tech skills are a big determinant of the future economy. We are leading a paradigm shift, setting Africa on the path to technological transformation. It’s the age of the digital revolution and we are well-equipped to be the main drivers of this disruption,” Yusuf said.
