KARACHI, October 30 2024: Pakistan’s leading edtech venture Knowledge Platform and Kenya’s leading edtech venture Eneza Education have merged to form the world’s first African Asian edtech venture.
The merged venture, headquartered in Singapore and operating as Knowledge Platform, serves over 1,000,000 learners in Africa and Asia using mobile, web, and SMS technologies. The combined team of over 100 professionals has expertise in AI and learning technologies, instructional design, and education support.
Wambura Kimunyu, the CEO of Eneza Education and now the Chief Growth Officer of Knowledge Platform, notes: “We are thrilled to combine our experience in designing and delivering learning solutions in emerging markets. Over 3 billion young people live in emerging markets. For a prosperous, equitable, peaceful and green future, there is no greater imperative than to invest in the education of these young people.
Our merger unleashes tremendous energy. Eneza brings deep experience in serving the rapidly growing African market through B2C solutions, and Knowledge Platform brings depth in B2B and B2B2C solutions.
We have the passion, grit, track record and capacity to innovate across broad fronts at low price points. I believe we are uniquely poised to serve the massive youth bulge in East Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia.”
Mahboob Mahmood, the founder of Knowledge Platform, adds: “Eneza is Africa’s ace at building a large, sustained and monetized customer base at a very low cost, and I believe we are the emerging markets leader in gamified learning. The combination is compelling.
The future of learning involves both curricular and extra-curricular learning through formal and informal processes. Using learning games and competitions and adaptive learning systems, we help young people master curricular subjects, such as math, sciences and English, and, even more critically, largely extra-curricular 21st century skills in digital, climate and financial literacy, problem solving, and data science.”
Sajid Anjum, CTO, adds: “Our learning games and competitions are catching fire: a 21st century learning format especially suited for 21st century subjects. In this spirit, we have recently launched a global climate literacy competition for middle schools.
As we move deeper into this century, we expect that such impact-driven innovation will flow from emerging markets to global markets. I believe our combined team will contribute meaningfully to redefining learning in the 21st century.”
Knowledge Platform and Eneza were introduced by the telecoms association GSMA, which had provided innovation support to both ventures.
Reacting to the merger, Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, Head of GSMA Mobile for Development, stated: “We are thrilled about this collaboration. GSMA strongly believes in making an impact through partnerships, and we are pleased to see two GSMA Innovation Fund alumni start-ups collaborate across continents to launch this unique African Asian edtech venture, and continue to invest in education and learning solutions, and in doing so promoting digital inclusion.”
The merged entities count among their partners and clients AFS Intercultural Programs, AKUEB, Aga Khan Education Services, Beaconhouse, The Citizens Foundation, GSMA, Jacobs Foundation, Jazz, LUMS, Marshall Cavendish, McDonalds, Moonlight Publishers, Oxford University Press, Safaricom and Zong, as well as UNICEF and government agencies in Kenya, Pakistan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
