South African ed-tech startup Snapplify has raised US$2 million funding to accelerate its international expansion initiatives and advance its data analytics capabilities to enhance classroom teaching effectiveness.
Based in Cape Town but already active internationally, Snapplify provides a marketplace for digital education content, related educational services and devices, offering e-learning solutions to over 1,400 schools, colleges and universities, and more than 200,000 students.
Already Africa’s largest e-book aggregator and distributor, the company is now looking for further speed its growth with US$2 million in expansion capital from venture capital firm Knife Capital, via its SARS section 12J Venture capital company KNF Ventures, and empowered African investment manager Hlayisani Capital’s Hlayisani Growth Fund.
The funding will enable the company to gain more customers and increase its market footprint through business development, growing the team and refining customer-led product features.
Snapplify is looking to change the way students access content in both developed and developing countries, said chief executive officer (CEO) Wesley Lynch.
“We are excited to have Knife Capital and Hlayisani on board to enable this vision, particularly because in addition to financial backing, we also need expert guidance from an aligned shareholder base to expand more aggressively into new markets in our next growth phase,” he said.
Snapplify was originally backed by AngelHub Ventures in its seed and Series A rounds, alongside international investors. AngelHub now forms part of Hlayisani Capital’s Growth Fund.
“Snapplify is a globally competitive business that has excelled with a powerful and relevant solution for both emerging and developed markets. It is fantastic to build on the platform that was established with the initial investment from AngelHub by bringing investors such as Knife and Hlayisani on board to ensure that Snapplify continues its journey as one of the companies to inspire Africa,” said Brett Commaille, partner at Hlayisani.
Knife Capital co-managing partner Andrea Bӧhmert said her company had been following Snapplify’s growth journey since inception, and that it was a privilege to partner with the company and its stakeholders.
“Africa faces a wide range of social and economic challenges, from access to affordable tertiary education to a skills shortage across a number of key industries. Though it would be over-optimistic to say that e-learning alone can overcome these challenges, the impact is clearly measurable,” she said.
“At Knife Capital we believe in investing in companies that solve real problems and in doing so generate meaningful returns to stakeholders and shareholders alike. Snapplify is such a company and we look forward to being part of the next growth phase.”
