US-based education technology start-up Classera, which is focused on emerging markets including the Middle East and North Africa region, raised $40 million in a new funding round led by Sanabil Investments, a company wholly-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Other investors in the round included Global Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, 500 Global, Sukna Venture, Seedra Ventures and a diverse set of investors from Silicon Valley, emerging markets and global family offices, the start-up said in a statement.
The new capital will be used to boost growth, develop technology and expand into new markets.
“The investment will be used to target more growth in Mena, the rest of Africa and to accelerate global expansion into Asia Pacific and elsewhere, via direct sales, channel partners and acquisitions,” Classera said.
Founded in 2011, San Francisco-based Classera is one of the largest EdTech companies in the Mena region. It educates millions of learners in more than 30 countries through a gamified learning approach using technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“The funding will help us take our LSP [learning super platform] to the next level, making it smarter, inspiring and simpler … many learning institutions, especially after the pandemic, are convinced they need the next generation of e-learning solutions … this is where Classera comes in,” Mohammad Almadani, chief executive and co-founder of Classera, said.
“We aim to expand our offerings to more global markets and become the partner of choice for education and training institutions covering all of their needs in a turnkey solution,” Mr Almadani said.
Globally, the EdTech market is booming.
The industry’s market size, which was valued $106.5 billion last year, is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5 per cent from 2022 to 2030, according to the US research company Grand View Research.
This industry includes hardware and software technology used to educate students online to improve learning in classrooms and enhance students’ education outcomes.
Over the past few years, Classera has developed more than 100 strategic partnerships with global and regional players including Microsoft, Zoom, Amazon, Intel and Udemy.
“Classera has developed and successfully deployed a platform that reaches millions of users and has grown to become one of the leading emerging market e-learning solution providers globally,” Sanabil Investments said in a statement.
“We are fully committed to enable Classera to further expand its reach to learners across all socio-economic backgrounds,” it added.
