We are leading a $13 million (SAR 48.8 million) investment round in Noon Academy, the leading EdTech company in MENA. The investment will strengthen the company’s position in current markets such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, fuel its geographical expansion into new markets, as well as go toward refining Noon’s social offerings. Since our initial investment, Noon Academy has launched in 4 new markets and reached 6M+ students served.
A little under a year ago, we announced that we co-led a Series A round in Noon Academy. At the time, we were particularly inspired by the founders’ passion for increasing access to quality education and commitment to crafting an intuitive and engaging online classroom experience for students and teachers alike. The team’s unique approach to online education differentiated it from global players, with its social learning platform achieving 4x the global industry average of student engagement at the time of our initial investment. Their dedication to its mission and reliance on data-driven product development has led to tremendous growth that exceeded our expectations. We are proud to announce that we are doubling down on our position in Noon Academy by leading a Pre-B round that serves to bolster the company’s growth.
In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, schools worldwide have been forced to close down, impacting over 90% of the world’s student population in the process according to UNESCO. As a result, we are seeing education transcend the confines of the traditional classroom at an unprecedented scale. While educational institutions have been slow to adopt online education, they have now been forced to rely on fully online solutions. We believe this will significantly accelerate the adoption of online learning, ushering in an era of digital transformation for education that is long overdue.
Even though the measures put in place as a result of the pandemic will be lifted eventually, we anticipate the digitization to last and are excited to see Noon Academy champion the digital transformation. The increasing reliance on EdTech solutions and digital platforms has resulted in increased acceptance and credibility; families and institutions alike are beginning to recognize that such solutions are in many ways better alternatives to traditional learning, especially as they discover the superior cost-effectiveness, scalability, and accessibility they provide.
As it happens, digital platforms also present a unique opportunity to develop engaging learning experiences by incorporating social and gamification features. This is an area where Noon Academy excels; the company has developed a robust social offering that includes features such as group study, advanced collaboration tools, a social media-like timeline that encourages sharing and interaction, as well as opportunities to participate in live competitions related to course materials. In fact, this is a key driver behind Noon Academy’s success, noting that their social learning platform is achieving 5 times the global industry average of a student’s daily engagement. Since our initial investment, sign-ups have grown by 2.6x, with the total number of students served reaching 6M+ and counting. The company has also launched in 4 new countries and is continuously working on adding new features to further increase engagement and make learning more enjoyable.
As younger populations become increasingly digital, the need to adopt online learning capabilities to accommodate students’ evolving preferences and learning styles will become essential. Noon Academy is preempting this paradigm shift and capturing the attention of an intuitively digital younger population by tailoring the experience to them. We are strong believers that investment in Education pays the highest dividends, on all levels.