Nigerian startup Stranerd has launched a peer-to-peer learning platform where students can ask and answer homework-related questions, with the service designed to give the smartest students opportunities to offer support to others who may be less skilled in particular subjects.
Stranerd began life as an Instagram page back in 2018, but only launched as a standalone digital product this year. The startup uses a gamification model which encourages learning by rewarding students with coins and elevating them to higher ranks based on how much they interact on the site, either by asking or answering questions.
“Our goal is to build the largest community of students where collaboration and innovation thrives in order to create opportunities for the student to function at the highest level possible and bring the most value to the student community. We intend to do this by fostering peer-peer learning by giving students the tools to collaborate and solve their problems,” said Jeremiah Godwin, who co-founded Stranerd alongside Timmy Salami.
Running the Instagram page, which posted educational content and offered academic assistance to students from across the world, demonstrated the value of such a platform, as the page grew and referrals poured in.
“However, there was a missing link – Nigerians who would benefit mostly from this service could not access it, mainly because the charge was in dollars,” said Salami. “This birthed the idea to make a workable plan that would allow Nigerian and other African students to access this service.”
Stranerd was therefore born this year, with strong early uptake.
“From our social media experience, we have seen that students can actually help other students and this is even far more quicker and conducive. This is why we’re convinced that launching this website is a move in the right direction,” said Godwin.
Self-funded and sustained by revenues, Stranerd monetises by providing tutorial services as well as homework help to students through social media direct messaging.
