NIGERIA – Kibo School, an online school that is set to offer several STEM degree programs targeted at students in Africa, has secured US$2 million seed funding led by Neo, a VC firm by the co-founder of Code.org.
Future Africa, Pledges, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Transcend Network and several angel investors also participated in the round. The new funding brings the total capital raised by the startup to US$2.4 million after last year’s pre-seed round.
“There are so many young people getting into the technology workforce, and I really think the continent could be the place for young technologists, if only our education system was up to the task. Our mission at Kibo is to provide a better alternative to traditional education,” said Bukola, who is also the CEO at Kibo.
“The primary goal for the seed round is to get the degree program off the ground. We have been doing these short classes, and we’re going to keep doing them and going through the process of applying for accreditation. But our primary focus now is bringing in students for our degree programs.”
According to the CEO, through the short courses launched last year, the school has trained 400 students in 13 countries in Africa.
The focus on STEM was validated when Kibo won the GSV Cup, one of the largest edtech pitch competitions globally, in April this year.
“The future of global talent is African. We’re the youngest and the fastest growing continent. So, if you want to solve the world’s future problems, literally the young people are going to be in Africa. This is not just a charitable thing, it’s just a practical thing because Africa is where the opportunity for growth is,” she said.
The school opened the application window for its full-time Computer Science degree, its inaugural program, yesterday, and aims to attract 100 students in the first cohort of the three-year degree program, which will have students paying a total cost of US$6,000.
The program is accredited by Woolf, a collegiate university based in U.K. As a Woolf member, students enrolled at Kibo will earn European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits, which are transferable across the globe.
Kibo has opened up the program to students in six cities across Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, and those enrolled will be required to live at least 100 kilometers from these cities, to make it easy for occasional meet-ups.
The school plans to introduce more programs and to take in new students every quarter, starting next year.
“It’s an online degree, but we have target cities because it’s still really important to help students build community. So, in every city where we’re enrolling students, there’s going to be an advisor on the ground, who will organize meet-ups every month,” said Bukola.
Bukola noted that the building communities of students in different countries will ensure that the school retains its students, and helps circumvent the common failures of online learning.
Learning at Kibo is moderated, not self-paced like most online courses, and students are required to work on collaborative projects. They are also paired with professional mentors and have to attend internships before graduating. The school has also signed commitments with several organizations to offer internships and part-time work to its students.
Bukola said they are working on building a more intelligent system that will automate most of the school’s administrative tasks including pairing students for revision.
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