Teesas, a Nigeria-based Edtech platform that offers video classes and other digital educational material for learners has raised $1.6 million in a pre-seed round led by round by Haresh Aswani, Tolaram Group’s Africa managing director, with the participation from Olivegreen Advisory Partners, an Africa-focused venture studio, and other angel investors.
With the new financing, the startup plans to launch a tutor marketplace, expand in East, Southern and Francophone Africa in 2022.
Launched in November 2021 by Osayi Izedonmwen, Teesas describes itself as Africa’s Learning Gateway for Higher Exam Grades with Tutorials from Africa’s Best Teachers. It offers high-quality video tutorials from Africa’s best teachers that explain foundational concepts with delivery in English and major local languages to deepen understanding.
Teesas provides a platform where educators and learners engage seamlessly and efficiently, with the aim of facilitating a fun and effective learning experience via the deployment of technology and the adoption of local culture and dialects.
Talking about the platform, Founder of Teesas, Osayi Izedonmwen said in a statement, “We started beta testing around August this year, and fully launched the android version in November. Already Teesas has over 150,000 downloads at the Google Play store, where we are now growing by at least 20% every week. Live classes deal with concepts where learners have challenges. The learners sit with teachers in small remote classes of 10 or 15 for a personalized engagement, and to get more rigour into the teaching process.”
Teesas’ content is aligned with Nigeria’s national curriculum and is delivered to learners in both live and recorded formats, through a subscription program that starts at $6 a month. In addition to regular school work, the startup also offers local language classes.
The company believes that learning should be available to everyone who seeks it without any barrier. Its purpose centres on eliminating the main barriers to tutor and student engagement.
Managing Director of Tolaram Group, Haresh Aswani has said, “We believe in the mission Izedonmwen and the Teesas team has set forth on, and we are confident that they are best suited to crack the challenge of using technology to enhance access to quality education across Africa.”
In the near future, Teesas will introduce life-skill classes to prepare learners for self-discovery. This is in addition to anti-bullying lessons, inspired by the reports of an increasing spate of bullying in Nigeria, with some incidents leading to death.
