Mobile learning startup, Eneza Education, has received an undisclosed amount in funding from Safaricom’s Spark Venture Fund.
Established in 2012 by co-founders Kago Kagichiri, Toni Maraviglia, and Chris Asego, Eneza provides remote tutoring by making school lessons and assessments available via SMS and on web and Android platforms. Their vision to make 50 million kids across rural Africa smarter using mobile technology was validated in August when they passed the 1 million-user mark.
Talking about this investment from Safaricom, co-founder and CEO, Kago Kagichiri said, “We believe in the power of the mobile phone in extending access to learners so they can realize their full potential. The additional investment will go a long way in enabling us reach more learners in countries where we already operate and in expanding to more countries.”
Eneza Education is the third startup that Spark Venture is investing in. Safaricom launched the fund in 2014, and so far, they’ve invested in mSurvey , a mobile research tool, and Sendy, an on-demand delivery startup.
CEO of Safaricom, Bob Collymore, speaking on this new investment said, “We believe that the mobile phone has the power to exponentially increase access to critical services such as education. Our partnership with Eneza has already seen us transform the lives of several children in Kenya; the funding we are unveiling today through the Spark Fund will provide them with the money they need to reach more children across the world.”
This is not the first time that Eneza Education and Safaricom are crossing paths. Earlier this year, they partnered to launch Shupavu 291, a revision study tool that works through SMS and USSD.
With this boost from Safaricom, Eneza hopes to expand to more locations. The Eneza app is currently available in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Benin and Iraq.
