The impressive Series A round, which represents the largest funding round ever in Edtech in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and most of Africa, is expected to advance Classera’s Learning Super Platform (LSP), affirm its position of leadership in e-learning and EdTech, in addition to further deepening its global expansion into new markets, especially in Africa.

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The round was led by the Public Investment Fund (PIF)-owned Sanabil Investments, a Saudi-based investment giant, accompanied by Global Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, 500 Global, Sukna Venture, and Seedra Ventures. Also involved in the round were other investors from Silicon Valley, emerging markets, and global family offices.

Crucially, the investment will see Classera accelerate on its global trajectory and target more growth in MENA, the rest of Africa, and to fast-track its expansion, especially into Asia Pacific (APAC) and elsewhere. These strategic expansionary plans will be driven by direct sales of its cutting-edge learning solutions, through channel partners, and via acquisitions.

Similarly, proceeds of the investment will also help Classera – via its specialized platform for corporate e-training – LeadXera – to expand faster into that huge sector – which is one of the primary targets of the investment.

As part of its growing footprints in Africa, Classera recently partnered with TD Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading distributor of tech, services, and lifestyle products.

The partnership will see Classera leverage TD Africa’s growing database, network of resellers/partners as well as its considerable reach to grow the adoption of its bouquet of e-learning solutions among millions of users across Nigeria and Ghana.

Specifically, through TD Africa, Classera will gain access to and introduce a range of smart learning tools to clients in the education sector, including schools at every level.

Also, in line to benefit are large corporate organizations, as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) desirous of adopting a digital learning platform to provide training for their employees.

Consequently, its strategic partnership with TD Africa, arguably the biggest distributor of Microsoft’s products and services in Nigeria and beyond, will undoubtedly aid Classera to gain significant footholds across a wide range of target audiences in Nigeria and Ghana.

‘‘We are delighted to be associated with Classera, particularly in the light of this landmark fund raise and in view of the massive potential in boosting e-learning for a variety of key users across Nigeria and Ghana,’’ disclosed Coordinating Managing Director, TD Africa, Mrs. Chioma Chimere. ‘‘Leveraging our army of resellers in these markets, we are confident that this strategic partnership will go a long way in expanding access to the suite of cutting-edge solutions from Classera for millions of new users.’’

Also commenting was Mahmoud El Gabry, Strategic Partnerships Director of Classera Inc.

“As we just completed one of the largest funding rounds a company with no prior funding had done in the EdTech industry, we are determined to extend our worldwide presence focusing on Africa to accomplish our vision.  Today, I am very excited about our new partnership with TD Africa to empower the learning journey of our clients in Nigeria and Ghana benefiting from the innovation brought by Classera and its globally recognized and awarded learning solutions spearheaded by its state of art Learning Super Platform (LSP).’’

Equally important, Classera, last year, launched a co-branded solution alongside HP under the name “HP-ClassEasy by Classera” which is now offered in several countries globally, with an eye on accelerating its growing adoption in Africa as well. The solution is an Education Super App for K12 and Higher Education that leverages AI, gamification and social learning to bring new levels of learner engagement to life, break through the challenges of increasingly difficult online student engagement and go beyond ordinary learning management systems.

“The HP ClassEasy is much more than a Learning Management System. It puts into perspective virtually everything you would want to do in a real-life educational institution. The ease of maneouvering through is exceptional and it is a delight seeing several institutions adopt it,” enthused Lanre Phillips, HP Enterprise Sales Manager – Central Africa.

Established in Silicon Valley with an Emerging Markets Focus, Classera is the largest Edtech company in MENA and most of sub-Saharan Africa, educating millions of learners in more than 30 countries. Its LSP is a fully integrated eco-system that includes a gamified learning management platform based on AI and social learning, an augmented reality learning app known as C-Reality, a full ERP for educational institutions – C-Smarter, an integrated e-payment gateway – C-Pay – for pocket money, tuitions payments and financing, as well as a specialized educational marketplace for Edtech and educational supplies products tagged Edumalls. These platforms are housed under one umbrella to ease the process and boost learning engagement and thus the overall learning experience.

Classera’s growing range of customers include Ministries of Education, schools, universities, and corporates for e-training. It has developed over 100 strategic partnerships with global and regional players including Microsoft, Zoom, Amazon, Intel, Udemy, and HP, among others.  At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic which disrupted learning across the world, Classera launched its Learning Never Stops solution to over five million classrooms in less than two weeks. By working day and night with Microsoft, Classera ensured a seamless transition to virtual classrooms at scale during one of the most critical periods in global history.

In addition, the company delivered one of the highest engagement metrics in the e-learning industry globally in the last academic year. In the journey, the engaging gamified platform enabled the company to secure close to 70% market share in several markets, generating high engagement – leading to over 10 billion page-views. Classera has received several global awards in the Edtech industry including Bett, The Learning Award, GESS, Microsoft best global partner award and many more.

More details on Classera’s remarkable e-learning solutions can be accessed here:

The round also mark’s the largest funding round ever in Edtech, in MENA and most of Africa.

Classera will leverage the fund to continue developing its Learning Super Platform (“LSP”) for the education and corporate training sectors, and cement its position as a global leader in e-learning and EdTech. 

The round was led by Sanabil Investments, wholly owned company by Public Investment Fund (“PIF”), accompanied by Global Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, 500 Global, Sukna Venture, and Seedra Ventures. The round additionally included a diverse set of investors from Silicon Valley, emerging markets, and global family offices. 

In addition to Classera’s new product, the investment will be used to target more growth in MENA, the rest of Africa, and to accelerate its global expansion especially into Asia Pacific (APAC) and elsewhere, via direct sales, channel partners, and acquisitions. The proceeds will also help Classera – via its specialized platform for corporate e-training “LeadXera”- to expand faster into that huge sector – which is on of the primary target post this investment.

Classera is the largest Edtech company in MENA and most of sub-Saharan Africa, educating millions of learners in over 30 countries. The Company’s LSP is a fully integrated eco-system that includes a gamified learning management platform based on A.I and social learning, an augmented reality learning app “C-Reality”, a full ERP for educational institutions “C-Smarter”, an integrated e-payment gateway “C-Pay” for pocket money, tuitions payments and financing, and a specialized educational marketplace for Edtech and educational supplies products “Edumalls”. All under one umbrella to ease the process and boost learning engagement and thus the overall learning experience.

Classera’s thousands of customers include over 10 Ministries of Education, private K-12 schools, universities, and corporates for e-training. It has developed over 100 strategic partnerships with global and regional players including Microsoft, Zoom, Amazon, Intel, Udemy, and HP. Last year, the company launched a co-branded solution alongside HP, under the name “HP-ClassEasy by Classera” which is now offered in several countries globally. 

Mohammad Almadani, CEO and co-founder of Classera, said:

“Today is a milestone in the Classera journey. I am honored to receive the backing of such an esteemed group of global investors, and immensely proud of our team whose passion has always been to revolutionise the learning experience. Together, we scaled Classera from limited resources to become a leading global EdTech platform. I am glad that we impacted and empowered the learning journey of millions, I hope our evolving story will serve as an inspiration to others, and we are optimistic that the best is yet to come.”

“The funding will help us take our ‘LSP’ to the next level, making it smarter, inspiring and simpler, and for our clients and partners globally. Many learning institutions, especially after the pandemic, are convinced they need the next generation of e-learning solutions. This is where Classera comes in; as we aim to expand our offerings to more global markets and become the partner of choice for education and training institutions covering all of their needs in a turnkey solution and provide its members with a unique learning experience that enables them to reach their full potential.”

Commenting on the announcement, Sanabil Investments said:

“Classera has developed and successfully deployed a platform that reaches millions of users and has grown to become one of the leading emerging market e-learning solution providers globally. We are fully committed to enable Classera to further expand its reach to learners across all socio-economic backgrounds.”

Classera delivered one of the highest engagement metrics in the e-learning industry globally in the last academic year. In the journey, the engaging gamified platform enabled the company to secure close to 70% market share in several markets in the region, generating high engagement – leading to over 10 billion page-views.

Along its path, Classera has also received several global awards in the Edtech industry including Bett, The Learning Award, GESS, Microsoft best global partner award and many more.

The recently signed partnership will see Classera leverage TD Africa’s growing database, network of resellers/partners as well as its considerable reach across Nigeria to grow adoption of its bouquet of e-learning solutions.

Specifically, through TD Africa, Classera will gain access to and introduce a range of smart learning tools to clients in the education sector, including schools at every level. Also in line to benefit are large corporate organisations, as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) desirous of adopting a digital learning platform to provide training for their employees.

Headquartered in the United States, Classera is driven by a mission to disrupt the education ecosystem, focusing on developing smart e-learning solutions that transform today’s traditional classrooms into a new educational journey for every learner and the coming generations. 

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic which disrupted learning across the world, Classera launched its Learning Never Stops solution to over five million classrooms in less than two weeks. By working day and night with Microsoft, Classera ensured a seamless transition to virtual classrooms at scale during one of the most critical periods in global history.

Consequently, its strategic partnership with TD Africa, arguably the biggest distributor of Microsoft’s products and services in Nigeria and beyond, will undoubtedly expand the Classera footprint across the Sib-Saharan African market.

This point was further espoused by Ekene Meniru, Head of Software Business, TD Africa: ‘‘We are extremely delighted to have partnered with Classera. This partnership will go a long way in boosting access to virtual learning for many more prospective users across Nigeria. Indeed, the power and relevance of e-learning cannot be understated, especially in view of current realities and in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

‘‘Today, a lot of educational institutions across all levels now rely more heavily on virtual learning formats to improve learning and teaching outcomes. Same goes for businesses which invest significantly in virtual learning to improve employee competencies via training, learning and development. Therefore, we are confident that this partnership with Classera will be of huge benefit to a wide category of potential users in Nigeria and beyond.

‘‘Equally pertinent to note is that we would be introducing Classera to our extensive database of partners. All training for partners who adopt Classera will be hosted on Azure, Microsoft’s Cloud platform, giving users reliable access to live and recorded educational content anytime anywhere. We are open to receiving all enquiries. These can be channelled to 09120483542 or emails,’’ he concluded.

The partnership between TD Africa and Classera is expected to significantly raise the standard of virtual learning options available to users in Nigeria and the wider Sub-Saharan African region, while also tapping into the increased appetite for e-learning solutions in the education and corporate space.