A look at the Educatly’s expansion plan after raising USD 3.5 mn in funding

Enterprise spoke with Educatly co-founder and CEO Mohammed El Sonbaty (LinkedIn) to discuss the education platform’s expansion plans after having raised some USD 3.5 mn over two separate funding rounds, as well as what the platform has in store for the local education sector. Here are edited excerpts from the interview:

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

ENTERPRISE: What are Educatly's plans for the USD 3.5 mn it has secured since its launch in 2020?

Mohammed El Sonbaty: Educatly is currently targeting expansion both in Egypt and throughout the region, especially in Saudi Arabia and in the UAE, using the USD 2.5 mn we raised during our latest funding round that we closed back in June. The round included participation from TLCom Capital, Plus Venture Capital, Egypt Ventures, and Irish angel network HBAN. The expansion plans include adding new members to our workforce and improving the platform's tech infrastructure to keep up with global developments and the rise of AI. We will also add a feature that will help students choose an academic specialization, which we plan to introduce by the end of the year.

The first round of funding — which came in at USD 1 mn — was used to establish our platform’s tech infrastructure over three years ago by gathering a set of educational programs in one place. This also involved forming a team in Egypt and entering foreign markets, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ireland. This allowed us to reach a student user base of over 3 mn students around the world. The investments from that first funding round have since tripled in value. We also have R&D centers in both Cairo and Dubai, in which we invest some USD 500k per year to make sure our platform complies with global standards and to make it accessible for students.

E: What is the platform trying to bring to the education sector that is currently lacking?

MS: Educatly’s aim is to bridge the gap between students' educational needs and the available opportunities, and to try to have the available opportunities match students’ ambitions and abilities. It targets students from high school to university, as these stages are the most crucial for students’ futures. The platform helps students obtain funding from universities abroad, either through student loans that can be paid back later or through full scholarships.

The platform offers its services entirely without charge, earning its revenues solely through its partnerships with universities. It recorded sales of around USD 1.5 mn in 2023.

Educatly primarily relies on what it receives from funding rounds. The goal of these rounds is not just to receive the necessary funds for our operations, but also to build partnerships with new entities that would add value to the platform — either because of their presence in different markets that are currently difficult for us to penetrate or because of their access to different governments that we have conducted financing agreements with.

E: Who has Educatly partnered up with?

MS: We’ve signed agreements with 1.1k universities across 90 different countries around the world, with over 130k specializations. Our agreements with these universities entail us providing them with students suitable for their programs in exchange for a fee.

Educatly also works closely with the governments of Egypt, the UAE, and Ireland through each respective country’s business accelerators, and cooperates with their private sectors to obtain funding and to contribute to the development of the educational systems in each of these countries.

E: What is the platform’s current ownership structure, and are there plans to offer shares to other entities or list on the EGX?

MS: I own a controlling stake in the company that exceeds 50%, while the remaining stakes are owned by the other founders as well as different entities that include private sector firms and accelerators. We ensure that the founders retain the largest controlling stakes during funding rounds.

We plan on offering shares either to other companies or through a public offering on the bourse. However, that’s a long-term plan that requires increasing the company's current size. We eventually plan on being a platform used all around the world, in the vein of something like LinkedIn.

Your top education stories for the week:

• University of East London is coming to Egypt: The Madbouly cabinet approved a presidential draft decision permitting the European Universities in Egypt to host a branch of the University of East London.
• CIRA will extend an EGP 77.5 mn loan to Al Ahly CIRA to help it finish the construction of the Saxony Egypt University of Applied Sciences and Technology.
• The Higher Education Ministry updated its lists of accredited higher educationinstitutions in Egypt.
• AUC scholarship up for grabs: Egyptian students graduating from the public, experimental, STEM, and Nile schools have until 11 August to apply to AUC’s Egyptian Public Schools Scholarships.