Nigerian startup ScholarX has been chosen as one of five participants in the global WISE Accelerator, a programme aimed at developing innovative ed-tech startups.
Launched in Nigeria in July 2016, the ScholarX app allows users to select parameters and scroll through lists of available scholarships that match their requirements. Scholarships are available for undergraduate, masters and PhD students.
The startup, which expanded to Ghana in March of last year, has also rolled out Village, which allows students to create fund requests to help with costs such as school fees, accommodation, books and exam fees. Sponsors can search through the various profiles and fund those that appeal. Last week, ScholarX was one of the eight ed-tech startups selected to take part the Cape Town-based Injini accelerator.
It has now been selected to take part in the WISE Accelerator, which is run by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation. The programme will kick off during the WISE@NewYork forum on September 22, where startups will take part in workshops, attend classes, and participate in pitching sessions.
As the programme progresses, ScholarX will receive support from mentors and WISE partners to scale up its business, improve its international visibility, and identify potential partners, donors, and investors.
“We are really excited to be amongst the five projects selected from a very competitive group across the globe to join the 2018-2019 WISE Accelerator. We really believe this will give us the added credibility we need, and it also opens up a big network of donors and partners that will help us deliver more funding opportunities for African youth to get a good education,” Bola Lawal, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of ScholarX, told Disrupt Africa.
The other startups selected were UK-based language learning platform Chatterbox; classroom management system ImBlaze and science teaching platform SmartScience, both from the United States (US); and French company Uptale, which allows people to create gamified interactive VR and AR learning content.
