Sayna, an edtech and crowdsourcing platform located in Madagascar, has secured 600,000 euros (US$638K) in its first seed round of funding from international venture capital firms such as Launch Africa Ventures, Orange Ventures, and the MAIC Investors Club.
This money will allow the Malagasy firm to expand into other geographies, allowing it to become a worldwide company.
Sayna, an internet platform for jobs and education founded in 2018 by Matina Razafimahefa, employs roughly forty people in France, Madagascar, and, most currently, the Ivory Coast.
Sayna’s two products, Sayna Academy, a mobile video game, and Sayna Work, a work platform, will be completed with this money, according to CEO Matina Razafimahefa.
The startup will be able to hire important individuals in many departments, including research and development, as well as at the operational management level.
She also stated that the moment has come to encourage new communities of microtasks in Senegal, Ethiopia, and Tunisia, who are developers who undertake paid computer microtasks.
The company has grown significantly since its founding. Sayna has more than 60 customers, including Orange Madagascar, Axian, Société Générale, the World Bank, and Access Bank.
Over 450 students have been educated or are in the course of being trained as of now. An estimated 90% of the startup’s former employees have found work.
Sayna has sold over 15,000 computer micro-tasks, according to the CEO, who is also pleased that Sayna has grown by 172 percent in a year.
Sayna’s gamified model of education, according to Zach George, Managing Partner of Launch Africa Ventures, “offers a cheap training program that disintegrates web programming talents into sequential learning targets through videos, games, quizzes, and practical projects.”
Sayna has the capacity to become a direct channel for projects, experience, and income for young people across the African continent, with an emphasis on soft skills development, mentorship, and a peer-to-peer learning environment.
They are enthusiastic believers in the prospects of crowdsourced microservices applied to information technology efforts, according to Grégoire de Padirac d’Orange Ventures’.
Sayna becomes a formidable instrument for tackling the continent’s employment difficulties and developer scarcity when combined with an online and gamified training solution for growing digital vocations.
Techbuild’s Take
As technology penetration has expanded across Africa, edtech platforms have witnessed an improvement in usage.
The coronavirus pandemic hastened its acceptance as educational institutions across the continent were closed down, but there is still skill acquisition and finding suitable employment beyond formal education.
Technology has had a significant impact on peer and self-learning. Self-learning is often the only option for many young people who cannot afford to pay for an education.
Many African teenagers have gained the skills they need to secure jobs thanks to edtech platforms like Sayna, which deliver affordable material.
The startup’s operations director, Adam Haciane, stated that the company has a real direction predicated on millions of Africans acquiring new technology.
The startup’s DNA is built on satisfying market demands with both technical and fun training at a competitive pricing range.
It was able to build a workable model after three years of “Test and Learn,” bypassing the error of the Income Share Agreement, which frequently generates repayment complications, by paying the training through a subscription system of €9.90 per month.
Micro tasking also provides cash streams, which can be utilized to pay for the learner’s computer equipment or reinvested in a professional venture.
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