Ed Partners, a startup based in Kenya, has successfully obtained $1.5 million in debt funding through a partnership with Oikocredit, a social impact investor. This funding is aimed at providing accessible financial assistance to private schools. Established in 2018 by Lydia Koros and David FitzHerbert, the company is currently under the leadership of CEO Amos Mwangi. Ed Partners specializes in offering financial solutions for critical aspects of the education system, including technology, transportation, and infrastructure. Its positive influence has already touched the lives of over 100,000 students across a network of 350 schools.
The company’s primary focus is on granting infrastructural loans to educational institutions. These loans aid in the construction of essential facilities such as classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, and washrooms. Additionally, they support the acquisition of crucial resources like computers, buses, vans, and internet connectivity. Notably, Ed Partners had previously raised $1.9 million in a funding round conducted in June 2021.
This recent achievement involves the acquisition of an additional $1.5 million in capital, secured as a loan from Oikocredit. Oikocredit operates as both a social impact investor and a global cooperative with the goal of assisting individuals with modest incomes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America in improving their livelihoods sustainably. The newly acquired funds will be channeled towards providing more affordable loan options to private schools in Kenya.
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Amos Mwangi, CEO of Ed Partners, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration between Oikocredit and his organization. He emphasized that this funding partnership will significantly enhance Ed Partners’ capacity to offer loan facilities to affordable private schools. This will enable these schools to expand and upgrade their infrastructure, aligning with the requirements of Kenya’s new education curriculum. Mwangi’s overarching objective is to elevate the quality of education, enhance access to learning resources, and promote sustainable development within African communities.
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Lewis Nyaga, the investment officer for Oikocredit in East and Southern Africa, highlighted the exciting prospects that this collaboration presents. He outlined various innovative educational initiatives that can be pursued, including curriculum development, teacher training programs, integration of educational technology, and research endeavors. Nyaga believes that these initiatives collectively contribute to enhancing the quality of education, improving access to learning resources, and fostering sustainable development across African communities.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard