The Student Hub, a South Africa-based edtech startup has received $2.9 million in funding from Naspers Foundry making it the fourth startup in South Africa to receive backing from the firm.
By working with government-accredited Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges to help them offer their courses online, The Student Hub improves access to vocational education for vast numbers of students, while reducing the cost of delivering education and training.
The start-up has raised a funding round of ZAR45 million (US$2.9 million) from Naspers, one of the world’s biggest investors in technology. In October 2018, Naspers launched Naspers Foundry, a ZAR1.4 billion (US$96 million) fund to help South African technology entrepreneurs develop their start-ups, and has since invested in SweepSouth, Aerobotics and Food Supply Network.
Since launching Foundry, its investment in Student Hub takes its total investment to ZAR 200 million (US$13 million), and Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Naspers South Africa, said she believed that tech companies have the prospects to be the cornerstone of economic growth in South Africa.
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“We want to play a role in unlocking that potential. Our investment in The Student Hub is an example of how digitalisation has the potential to address unequal access to education, create local opportunities, and enable increased participation towards a more inclusive economy,” she said.
Founder and CEO of The Student Hub, Hertzy Kabeya (pictured above) said that he was thrilled to be partnering with Naspers considering their broad international background in the ed-tech industry.
“We are a technology company that believes that improving access to education to millions of students across South Africa is at the core of what we do. Linking graduates with the right economic opportunities that relate to their skills are what the economy needs right now,” he said.
