Ten African startups are among the 30 named as finalists of the Next Billion Ed-Tech Prize, which recognises innovators improving educational outcomes in emerging economies.
The 30 finalists will compete in a pitch contest taking place at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) 2019 on March 22-24 in Dubai, which brings together over 1,500 delegates and culminates in the award of the Next Billion Ed-Tech Prize and the US$1 million Global Teacher Prize.
All finalists will pitch in front of a panel of judges at the event, with six to be selected to return to the main stage for the grand final. The best three will each be awarded US$25,000, and the overall winner will be awarded the Next Billion Prize trophy.
The African startups named as finalists include three from Kenya in the form of Eneza Education, eLimu and M-Shule, as well as Tanzanian solutions Ubongo and Mtabe.
Also selected are Ivory Coast’s Etudesk, Egypt’s PraxiLabs, Ethiopia’s LangBot, Nigeria’s ScholarX, and South Africa’s Zelda.
“The Next Billion Prize was created to shine a light on those gifted entrepreneurs that are not only ingenious, but also bold and persistent enough to bring forward the revolutionary ideas that are desperately needed to transform education in those parts of the world where there is limited access to high quality teaching,” said Vikas Pota, chief executive officer (CEO) of Tmrw Digital, which runs the Next Billion Prize.
“Our fervent hope is that the prize inspires this new breed of entrepreneur the world over to come forward with the fresh thinking that is needed to help give every child their birthright; access to a great education.”
