South African ed-tech startup The Student Hub has become the fourth startup to secure backing from Naspers Foundry, raising ZAR45 million (US$2.9 million) to help it expand.
The Student Hub increases access to vocational education to large numbers of students, whilst reducing the costs of delivery of education and training, by partnering with government accredited Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges to help them deliver their courses online.
The startup has secured a ZAR45 million (US$2.9 million) funding round from Naspers, one of the largest technology investors in the world. Naspers launched Naspers Foundry, a ZAR1.4 billion (US$96 million) fund to help South African tech entrepreneurs grow their startups, in October 2018, and has since invested in SweepSouth, Aerobotics and Food Supply Network.
Its investment in The Student Hub brings its total investment since launching Foundry to ZAR200 million (US$13 million), and Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, Naspers South Africa chief executive officer (CEO), said she believed tech companies have the potential to be the cornerstone of South Africa’s economic growth.
“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.
Hertzy Kabeya, founder and CEO of The Student Hub, said he was delighted to be partnering with Naspers given their deep international experience in the ed-tech sector.
“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.
