In September 2020, HolonIQ announced the Africa EdTech 50 — a list of the 50 most promising EdTech startups headquartered in Africa. As we open applications for our annual Africa EdTech 50, we take a look at where the 2020 cohort are now.
With over 200 million young people, Africa is arguably the continent in the most need of effective, scaled solutions for education from early childhood through to adult up-skilling. Despite major infrastructure and capital challenges, EdTech activity across the continent is impressive, with thousands of African EdTech entrepreneurs working across all parts of the sector to support teachers, schools, students and parents for greater access to education and impact from learning.
The Annual Africa EdTech 50 recognizes the most promising EdTech startups based in Sub-Saharan Africa.
To be eligible, startups are generally less than 10 years old (though there are some exceptions), are either headquartered in Sub-Saharan Africa (see separate Middle East North Africa EdTech 50), or predominately focused on the market (e.g. > 80% revenue/customers, are pre exit (not acquired or listed) and not a subsidiary of a larger company or controlled by an investor group (e.g. via private equity buyout or controlling investment).
Governments, institutions, investors, schools and educators, influencers and talent leaders from across the region and around the world look to HolonIQ’s Africa EdTech 50 to better understand the dynamics of innovation in the market and the teams who are making a difference in education outcomes.
HolonIQ's Scoring Fingerprint
In 2020, HolonIQ’s Education Intelligence Unit evaluated 700+ EdTech companies based in sub-saharan Africa, powered by data and insights from our Global Intelligence Platform and local experts. Each organization was assessed using our proprietary scoring engine and following HolonIQ’s startup scoring rubric. Our normalization algorithm ensures that individual scoring bias is eliminated to create an equitable baseline and allows experts to review their own ‘scoring fingerprint’ relative to other experts. HolonIQ’s startup scoring rubric covers the following dimensions:
Market. The quality and relative attractiveness of the specific market in which the company competes.
Product. The quality and uniqueness of the product itself.
Team. The expertise and diversity of the team.
Capital. The financial health of the company and in particular its ability to generate or secure sufficient funding.
Momentum. Positive changes in the size and velocity of the company over time.
