Under a share-swap deal, Tyro, an EduTech platform that connects students with competent instructors through one-on-one and group sessions, will acquire Nafham, an Egyptian social startup that provides free crowdsourced educational content. Tyro’s leadership will take over Nafham’s administration and operations as part of the arrangement, which will improve the customer experience for Nafham’s 6 million consumers. Tyro will serve as the general holding company, continuing to provide live tutoring services while also expanding the group’s technological capabilities. Tyro has also received a kickstart fund from multiple investors, including Flat6Labs and NXL Partners, for the new organization.
“This deal has put an end to the on-going debate of which is the better and more efficient service offering: live tutoring vs. pre-recorded sessions,” says Ahmed El Alfi, Nafham Co-founder. “This way, we are able to deliver both services on top of innovative technology that makes for a seamless and immersive educational experience through providing this hybrid model.
Why The Acquisition?
“Both companies joining forces will technically make us the largest Edutech platform in the MENA region providing both, live online tutoring as well as recorded educational video content,” says Mokhtar Osman, Tyro CEO. “It is crucial to capitalize on both the technology capabilities, and a solid customer base, to be successful. With this merger, we are well-positioned to take the platform to the next level.”
Nafham is one of the largest online educational platforms in the Middle East, with over 150 million views on its video content and 6 million annual users. The material of Nafham is geared toward k-12 school curriculum in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
“Nafham has a very strong & established brand presence within the MENA region which is why we’ll be focusing on further strengthening the Nafham brand,” says Mokhtar Osman.
Tyro is an online tutoring platform that assists thousands of students in studying for examinations and learning a new language. Tyro has completed over 50,000 paid sessions since its debut in 2017, has been scaling at double-digit growth rates, and is financially self-sustaining.
“Online education is here to stay and its adoption has only been significantly accelerated due to the pandemic. It is now considered a permanent source of knowledge and content generation,” says Amir Sabry, Tyro Co-founder. “This acquisition also confirms our commitment to delivering Edutech products and services for years to come, and our impregnable belief in our model.”
Nafham social startup Nafham social startup
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
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