Participated · Equity · Jul 2023

Propel is a Berlin-based talent-pipeline platform that connects African tech talent to the global workforce. It matches developers, designers, product managers, cybersecurity analysts and other tech professionals across different levels of expertise with global roles. Led by Sunkami Ola, Seun Owolabi and Abel Agoi, the company operates a community-as-a-service platform to streamline discovery and placement. Propel plans to enhance its community-as-a-service offering to improve user experience and usability. The company intends to expand operations and its business reach across African countries with skilled tech talent and budding communities. Propel raised €2.5M in funding to support these development and expansion efforts.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2022

Nexford provides fully online U.S.-accredited degree and course programs that learners complete at their own pace, with daily academic support and stackable pathway programs. The platform targets underserved English-speaking markets such as Nigeria and partners with local organizations to provide learning community spaces to help learners circumvent infrastructure challenges; it plans similar partnerships in Kenya and the Philippines. Nexford plans to add programs over the next six to twelve months — including software engineering, data science, clean energy, business analytics, digital marketing and project management — and to launch six-month career pathway programs that can stack into degrees. The company highlights affordability (accredited degrees cost about $3,000–$4,000 and are paid in monthly installments) and reports outcomes data showing roughly 92% of survey respondents achieved job outcomes, promotions, or salary increases. Internally, Nexford said it operates with positive margins, saw 2x revenue growth in 2021 versus the prior year, and expanded enrollments from 70 countries to over 90. Nexford operates a licensed, accredited online university that uses a competency-based model where students demonstrate mastery through practical projects rather than standardized tests. Its product offers undergraduate and graduate degrees (business administration, marketing, AI and automation, business analytics, e-commerce, product management and others) with monthly tuition installments typically totaling $3,000–$4,000 per degree; examples cited include an MBA in Nigeria at about $160/month and a bachelor at $80/month. The platform serves learners from 70 countries, with Nigeria its largest market, and combines automation with faculty and career-advisor support plus employer placement programs. Nexford has blue-chip partnerships with Microsoft, LinkedIn Learning and IBM and runs employer-sponsored upskilling arrangements such as a placement pathway with Sterling Bank. Financially, the company reported revenue growth of 300% last year and aims to triple enrollment this year. Going forward it plans to invest in product and technology (improving skills analysis and automation), expand regionally—particularly into Asia—and launch more employer partner programs to drive placements and upskilling. Nexford University builds a next-generation learning experience aimed at closing the gap between higher education and global workplace needs. The company is developing a technology platform that uses AI to deliver a personalized, engaging and affordable learning experience. Led by CEO Fadl Al Tarzi, Nexford plans to build the underlying technology and a curriculum aligned to global employer needs. The company closed a $4m seed funding round to support those efforts. Backers included Magnify Ventures and angel investors from New York, Dubai, Cairo, Geneva and London. Nexford is based in Washington, DC and announced the round in September 2018.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

Craydel is a Kenyan edtech startup that provides a portal for students to discover, compare and apply to higher-education programs. Launched earlier this year by Manish Sardana, John Nguru and Shayne Aman Premji, the platform offers verified college listings, career assessments, application and visa guidance, and online certificate options. The startup has partnered with more than 90 universities and vocational colleges and currently lists 3,000 higher-education programs. Craydel raised $1 million in a pre-seed round to improve its search and recommendation technology and expand its online resources. The company plans to build a proprietary AI-powered search and recommendation engine to generate curated program suggestions based on interests, grades, budgets and career aspirations. Management positions the product as a way to reduce misinformation and bias in higher-education decision-making across Africa.