Tanzanian educational media platform and Egyptian virtual science lab developer PraxiLabs have walked away with US$25,000 each after being named winners of the Next Billion Ed-Tech Prize.
Disrupt Africa reported last month 10 African startups were named among the 30 finalists of the Next Billion Ed-Tech Prize, which recognises innovators improving educational outcomes in emerging economies.
The finalists competed in a pitch contest at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) 2019 last week, with Tanzanian startup – a localised educational media platform – Ubongo named the overall winner. It secured the Next Billion Prize trophy and US$25,000 in prize money.
Prize money was also awarded to two other winners – India’s Dost and Egypt’s PraxiLabs, which has developed a product that makes virtual science labs accessible, usable, and affordable for educational institutions and schools.
“We’re delighted to have won the Next Billion Prize. We’re already having an impact reaching children but this award will mean we can do so much more. By 2022 we plan to reach 30 million children in Africa and our ultimate goal is to reach 440 million – every child in Africa,” said Ubongo chief executive officer (CEO) Nisha Ligon.
The other African startups named as finalists were Eneza Education, eLimu, M-Shule, Mtabe, Etudesk, LangBot, ScholarX, and Zelda.
