Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
South African ed-tech startup The Student Hub, has become the fourth startup to secure backing from Naspers Foundry, raising $2.9 million to help expand its service.
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 secured the funding round from Naspers, one of the largest technology investors in the world. Naspers launched Naspers Foundry, a $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 $13 million.
Speaking on this, Mrs 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.
Mr 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.
The Student Hub provides online courses from South Africa’s leading colleges that give students the in-demand skills they need to get the job they want. It achieves this through private resources and the latest learning technology.
Through partnerships with various colleges, it enables students to be at the forefront of online learning and skills delivery by removing the limitation of a physical campus and increasing the number of students who can enrol giving students the opportunity to study with the college of their choice.
Through its learner management system, it allows colleges to monitor students’ performance, increasing the value to the college while limiting the cost incurred from having students on campus.
