Denis Opudo
SkillUp Tutors is an EdTech startup that links students and parents to skilled and qualified tutors. This is based on budget, grades, location, and subjects. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, SkillUP operates all over the country and it is found on both Android app store and iOS. The startup has received an overwhelming reception from junior learners, adult learners, and university students.
According to Matthew Henshall the SkillUp co-founder and CEO, the private tutorial sector is disintegrated and incompetent. He adds that SkillUp is giving affordable tutorials. This is by reducing the fee and giving a transparent service ensuring safest and quality service. Both online tutoring and learning are the highest growing markets both locally and globally. The global industry is expected to record a total annual growth rate of 10.26% that is between 2018/2023. This will increase to $286.62 billion come 2023 and increase from $156.52 billion in 2017.
Mathew adds that the biggest online education firm in SA has a market share of 5% which is probably not organized one can use the figure to tell the market size in SA. He says that education is relative and he believes that human presence does not play a crucial role in education. SkillUp has been relying on angel-funding since its launch in 2016. It managed to secure Series A of funding round that came from Knife Capital. But the exact amount still remains confidential. According to Investment Partner at Knife Capital Keet van Zyl, the deal is of help to different shareholders in the company.
Recently, Knife Capital was in the headlines. This was after there were speculations that it channeled multi-million dollar funding in DataProject, an AI startup based in Cape Town. SkillUp is its second startup in Africa to receive its funding in 2018. The EdTech sector is attracting more investors in the recent past worldwide. In this year’s first quarter, India has recorded $28 million of equity funding. Furthermore, it has acquired a majority stake worth $180 million. Byju which is an EdTech startup in the country joined Unicorn club after successfully operating for a period of seven years.
SkillUp plans to use the funding in expanding its services to various parts of the world. Furthermore, it plans to use it in signing a partnership with content providers and improve its user acquisition. It also aims at expanding its service delivery in South Africa through online lessons, in-person lessons, and workshops. Its main point of focus is to expand to the UK, South-East Asia, and other European markets.
