Malagasy startup SAYNA, an education and freelancing platform, has raised a US$600,000 funding round to finish development.
Founded in 2018 by Franco-Malagasy entrepreneur Matina Razafimahefa, SAYNA is a mobile video game designed to teach digital professions, which uses algorithms to automatically connect learners to IT micro-tasks requested by international companies.
The startup has built a complete ecosystem that combines a gamified professional training programme for digital professions, SAYNA ACADEMY, with access to a micro-tasking platform, SAYNA WORK. The latter allows learners to develop their experience in IT development at an early stage, in line with their skills, in a secure environment, as well as an income-generating activity.
SAYNA has now secured a US$600,000 funding round from Orange Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures and MAIC Investors Club, with funds to be used to finalise its platforms and have more than 3,000 active “microtaskers”, 12,000 learners and 257,000 commercialized IT microtasks on its platform by 2024. The startup has already trained 450 students and served more than 60 partner and client companies.
“This fundraising is both a crucial step for SAYNA’s international development and a strong symbol for the Madagascar tech scene. Our team is today composed of 25 people split between France and Madagascar. This is also a sign of hope for hundreds of thousands of young African talents who, until now, have not had the opportunity to become professionals to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution underway on the continent,” said Razafimahefa.
Zach George, managing partner of Launch Africa Ventures, said he was excited about SAYNA’s gamified approach to learning.
“SAYNA, with its focus on soft skills training, mentorships and a peer-to-peer learning environment, stands a good chance of becoming a direct gateway to projects, experience and income for youth across the African continent,” he said.
