Egypt's EdVentures to invest $1.1m in EdTech start-up Jeel

Since 2017, EdVentures has invested in 13 start-ups with a market capitalisation of $75m, creating 1,400 jobs

The Cairo skyline. Egypt is home to nearly 1,500 EdTech companies. Reuters

EdVentures, the corporate venture capital arm of Egypt’s Nahdet Misr Publishing Group, said it will $1.1 million in Jeel start-up, an education and entertainment platform for pre-schoolers in the region.

EdVentures, which was founded in 2017, made the announcement at its summit on the future of EdTech in the Middle East and North Africa region. The event was organised in collaboration with HolonIQ, the US-based platform for impact market intelligence.

“Moving forward, EdVentures is seeking more investments in EdTech start-ups, while expanding globally,” Dalia Ibrahim, chief executive of Nahdet Misr Publishing House and founder of EdVentures, said.

“Driven by the need to transform the EdTech sector locally and regionally, we established EdVentures … and managed to support more than 66 start-ups, and invest in 13 start-ups with a market capitalisation of $75 million, creating 1,400 jobs,” Ms Ibrahim said.

Globally, the EdTech market is booming.

The industry’s market size, valued at $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.

Egypt, the most populous economy in the Arab world, has the largest share in the growing EdTech ecosystems across the Mena region, according to HolonIQ’s latest data. The country is home to 1,500 EdTech companies, followed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Established in 1938, Nahdet Misr is one of the pioneers in the fields of education and publishing in the Mena region. It offers integrated services through its eight subsidiaries, including curriculum development, professional development for educators, digital learning, educational software development, vocational education and technical training solutions and publishing solutions.

It launched Mena’s first EdTech VC, EdVentures, in 2017 to provide incubation, acceleration and investment programmes for start-ups operating in the education sector.