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Smartprof, Moroccan Edtech Startup, Receives New Funding Boost

August 31, 2023

In a significant stride forward, Moroccan edtech startup Smartprof has announced a new phase of growth following an infusion of investment from Fuze, a prominent player in funding Francophone African startups. Smartprof has been redefining the educational landscape through its innovative platform that connects students seeking academic support with qualified tutors. The platform’s mission is to bridge the gap between the supply of proficient tutors and the demand from parents searching for effective tutors for their children.

Education stands as a cornerstone for a promising future, and Smartprof is at the forefront of fostering exceptional learning experiences. The Co-founder and CEO of Smartprof, Homza Faiz, expressed their excitement about the partnership with Fuze, stating that the collaboration is set to propel Smartprof’s presence within the Francophone African tech ecosystem. The streamlined and constructive investment process fostered a strong sense of trust between Smartprof and Fuze.

Beyond financial backing, Fuze brings a fresh perspective to the challenges Smartprof faces. Having an investor with a strong presence in the Francophone African region is anticipated to significantly aid Smartprof’s expansion strategy. The investment mechanism provided by Fuze is a fundamental pillar of this alliance, transforming funding accessibility for emerging startups in the region. Bolstered by a renewed vision and supported by Proparco, Digital Africa is poised for a new era of growth.

Under the overarching umbrella of Digital Africa, initiatives like Bridge, Talents 4 Startups, and Fuze have already made lasting impressions. The Talents 4 Startups program, having garnered over 10,300 applications from African youth, stands as a testament to the region’s vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. Through collaborations with partner organizations across ten countries, Digital Africa has trained hundreds of students, expanding the program’s impact.

The synergy between Smartprof and Fuze is particularly evident in Fuze’s investment envelope of €6.5 million. The funding structure includes ideation tickets at €20,000, follow-on tickets at €30,000, and cumulative tickets at €50,000. This investment framework underscores Fuze’s mission to provide sustained financial support to French-speaking African startups, nurturing their growth trajectories. The first ideation ticket, designed to support startups during their inception, is being piloted with specific criteria focusing on regional presence, co-founder nationality, and technological solutions.

Far from limiting startups’ growth, this approach is tailored to address their evolving needs at various stages. Digital Africa’s comprehensive support system extends to later growth phases as well. For instance, the Bridge Fund, in collaboration with Proparco, offers bridge financing to startups ranging from €200,000 to €600,000. Additionally, the partnership with BPI France on Africa Next unites a community of investors ready to back startups seeking higher funding brackets.

The ethos behind Fuze is not just about providing initial financial backing, but also about integrating startups into a continuum that equips them with the necessary tools to thrive. As Smartprof takes this monumental step forward with Fuze’s backing, the edtech sector in Francophone Africa stands poised for remarkable expansion and transformation.

Moroccan On-demand Tutoring Startup SmartProf Raises New Funding

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

Moroccan Private Tutoring Marketplace Smartprof Raises Pre-seed Funding

November 20, 2022

Smartprof, Morocco’s private tuition marketplace, just received a $110,000 pre-seed investment from UM6P Ventures, Plug and Play, and business angels.

Smartprof co-founder Mustapha Faiz indicated that the business, the valuation of which is unknown, intends to use the financing to extend its footprint in Morocco and West Africa.

“Smartprof is currently present in two main regions: Grand Casablanca and Rabat and we are looking to expand in other major Moroccan cities: Agadir, Marrakech, Dakhla, Tangier, Oujda, Meknes,” Faiz said.

Smartprof intends to “start expanding in other African nations in the next months,” in addition to increasing its market share in Morocco, according to the co-founder. “Our goal is to be a one-stop shop for private tutors across West and North Africa.”

Smartprof now provides one-on-one or group live interactive sessions with the help of a small crew.

However, the team is projected to grow to more than ten employees in the next weeks as the management, Mustapha, Hamza, and Ali Faouzi, hires additional members “a small army of developers” to improve the “product’s quality by adding new capabilities and making it scalabl.

“Smartprof is now the “sole big player [in Morocco] in terms of on-demand private tuition,” Faiz explained , adding that “other Ed tech actors supply pre-recorded educational content.””

In terms of competition in the Moroccan market, Faiz emphasised that Smartprof’s “team, operational efficiency, and ability to translate the best tutoring experience through our product” set the startup apart from other edtech solutions that offer “e-learning, LMS [learning management systems], or school information management systems.”

While the Moroccan edtech landscape remains “very small” and “not substantial,” Faiz expressed gratitude to “different actors and facilitators such as l’École Centrale Casablanca, an engineering school, or Startgate, Morocco’s largest startup campus.”

The edtech industry in Morocco is still in its infancy. The COVID-19 epidemic has, however, brought attention to the necessity of universalizing e-learning solutions.

Therefore, it is anticipated that the trend toward digitising some areas of education will accelerate during the next years, and creative solutions, driven by the local startup ecosystem, are going to shape education in Morocco and throughout Africa.

Smartprof private tutoring Smartprof private tutoring

Moroccan On-demand Tutoring Startup SmartProf Raises New Funding

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. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

Moroccan On-demand Tutoring Startup SmartProf Raises New Funding

July 18, 2022

Smartprof, a Moroccan tutoring startup, has received $50,000 in investment after graduating from the third cohort of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) Startgate and Plug and Play Morocco startup competition.

Smartprof, founded in 2021 by Hamza Faiz, Mustapha Faiz, and Ali Faouzi, is an on-demand tutoring software for school-aged pupils.

Kezakoo, a proptech firm, Agenz, a provider of sustainable transportation solutions POGO, and Mytindy, a marketplace for local craftsmen and craftspeople offering handmade products, were among the other startups that took part in the Expo Day.

UM6P Startgate and Plug and Play Morocco (PnP) have spent the last three months mentoring 12 Moroccan startups in an effort to strengthen the country’s developing startup ecosystem amid local and international concerns about an economic downturn and funding cuts.

During the PnP Batch 3 Expo Day in Casablanca, 12 startups showcased their concepts to partners and managers of significant venture capital funds present in Africa.

On Wednesday, July 6, aspiring young entrepreneurs and graduates from the first and second batches in April 2021 and March 2022, such as Chari, Jobop, and WafR, attended the event to learn about new creative concepts in Morocco and provide their support.

The list of selected startups for this expo comprised both freshly started and reasonably established firms that deliver digital breakthroughs in the domains of education, health, real estate, retail, and tech industry, with a special emphasis on themes connected to the development of smart cities.
Smart Prof, the winner of the Startgate and PnP Batch 3 competitions, got $50,000 for their inventive tutoring marketplace, which connects K-12 kids with tutors pursuing higher education.

According to Aziz El Hachem, North-Africa Director at Plug and Play, “this event is an opportunity for us to look back on what’s been done in the last two years to enable the local startup scene and pursue our ambitions in building an integrated ecosystem that offers concrete opportunities to local talent.”

Yassine Laghzioui, UM6P’s Head of Entrepreneurship and Venturing, stated that the university is “seeking to put Morocco and Africa at the forefront of technology and innovation.”

“We are putting the current challenges of the African continent as the pillars of our mission statement,” Laghzioui added, noting that the main challenges burdening the continent’s development are food security, sustainable exploitation of natural resources, digital inclusion, and access to health care.

Placing “innovation for Africa” at the heart of UM6P’s work, Laghzioui emphasised that the continent must address additional issues related to the development of the continental startup ecosystem, such as a lack of capital, the dominance of fragmented markets, a lack of quality education, and a lack of infrastructure.

Throughout the exhibition day, the 12 businesses expressed a desire in expanding their operations to Western Africa, particularly Francophone Africa, signalling a significant shift in the Moroccan entrepreneurship sector, which was previously focused on Europe.

Nonetheless, businesses must maintain a “balancing power dynamic” with investors, which necessitates the diversification of investment money, according to Yamawaki.

PnP reminded new ambitious Moroccan entrepreneurs with creative ideas to apply for Batch 4 before September 15, 2022, as the 12 startups dive deeper into the Moroccan startup ecosystem in the hopes of one day becoming a Moroccan unicorn, a startup valued at $1 billion.

Smartprof tutoring Smartprof tutoring

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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. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh