An online learning platform, Nexford University that offers next-generation earning experiences has closed a $10.8 million in Series A funding.
Dubai based VC Ventures and other investors led the funding round which includes Future Africa’s new thematic fund (focused on education), family offices, angel investors, unnamed VCs from 10 countries which include the U.K, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, Switzerland, Nigeria, and Qatar.
Founder of Future Africa and general partner Iyin Aboyeji called the company a game-changer for higher education in Africa because it focused on the future of learning.
“While many universities were shut down during the pandemic due to labor disputes, Nexford was already delivering an affordable and innovative new model of online higher education designed for a skills-based economy”
To date, the learning platform has raised an aggregate of $15.3 million, after it raised $4.5 million in seed funding two years ago.
Fadl AI Tarzz, established Nexford University in 2019 and has been filling important gaps by offering affordable and quality education.
General partner at Global ventures, Noor Sweid said
“We are glad to collaborate with Fadl and the Nexford team on their journey towards the expansion of universal access to quality higher education in emerging markets.”
The learning platform offers undergraduate degrees in business administration; building a tech startup; AI & automation; business analytics; 360-degree marketing; digital transformation; business in emerging markets; e-commerce; and product management. It offers graduate degrees in business administration, hyperconnectivity, advanced AI, sustainability, e-commerce, and world business. Once students get admitted into the school they study at their own pace.
The tuition structure is different from conventional universities. Its accredited degrees costs between $30,000 to $40,000 paid in monthly installments. For instance, in Nigeria, to study an MBA, costs $160 a month, while the cost of a bachelor’s degree is $80 a month. Learners pay less when they graduate faster.
Nexford University students are from 70 countries with Nigeria being the biggest market. The school also has a blue-chip partnership with LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft, and IBM to provide access to courses, tools, and programs to enhance the learning experience.
The revenue of the learning platform grew by 300%. The company plans to triple its enrollment size from that of last year.
Aside from offering degrees, the learning platform also helps to find placements by fixing its graduates with partner employers. The employers sponsor their employees or potential employees for reskilling and upskilling purposes. For instance, Sterling Bank. Nexford collaborates with Sterling Bank to finance the tuition for higher school leavers. After studying through Nexford’s programs for the first year, they begin to get a part-time placement at Sterling. After graduation, they get employed in the bank.
The funding round will be used to scale its flexible remote learning platform.
