The Ghana Angel Investor Network (GAIN) has made its first investment, providing e-learning startup Revo with GHS 350,000 (US$110,000) in funding.
GAIN was established by the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) to bridge the funding gap for very early-stage companies in Ghana and provide a platform for established entrepreneurs to assist aspiring ones with capital and mentorship. It now has 24 members.
The funding for Revo came about after a pitching session held in February. The startup has been seeking funding to promote its iLearn product, a tablet loaded with custom educational content including approved syllabus textbooks, past questions and answers for all school subjects from 1990 to 2013.
“This application allows the student to practice past questions as many times as they want and get instant results or grades shown plus other helpful analysis,” GAIN said. “The tablet also contains storybooks from great publishers to improve students’ reading capabilities and also help improve their English language and knowledge base. iLearn also has brain teaser tests and games for educative fun.”
Revo co-founder Archibald Annan said the company was passionate about education and dedicated to revolutionising teaching practices by making learning more engaging and interactive for students.
The founders said digitising educational materials impacts the way an educator teaches, providing students with digital content and the professional development to transform classroom instruction into an “immersive experience” that inspires a student’s natural curiosity.
“The founders recognised the necessity to offer a package that meets the needs of teachers and students which led to the creation of Revo’s e-learning platform which creates the opportunity for teachers to post class notes online where students can have 24-hour access from any desktop, laptop or mobile device while parents can also follow class lessons from their desks at the office,” GAIN said.
The GAIN team will work closely with Revo for at least the next 12 months, with Leticia Browne, head of investor relations at GAIN, saying this was one of the key benefits of working with GAIN, as its network allows entrepreneurs to tap into a wealth of resources via the pool of investors and mentors.
