Edutainment platform Jeel raises $1.1M in seed funding
Saudi Arabia based Jeel provides pre-schoolers with educational content created with the help of educators and psychologists
Edtech startup has raised $1.1 million led by EdVentures—the VC arm of Nahdet Misr Publishing Group, a learning company based in Egypt.
Jeel is an edutainment platform for pre-schoolers. Founded by Ahmed Sobaih in 2020, the startup provides pre-schoolers with educational content that has been created with the help of educators and psychologists.
EdVentures recently organised a summit on the future of edtech in MENA, along with HolonIQ—an impact market intelligence platform in the US. Dalia Ibrahim, CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House and Founder of EdVentures, said in a Wamda report that the need to transform the edtech sector led the learning platform to establish EdVentures in 2017.
So far, the fund has supported over 66 startups and has invested in over 13 companies, with plans for global expansion.
HolonIQ's data finds that Egypt has the largest share of edtech startups in the region with over 1,500 companies, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A significant portion of this is focused on corporate and workforce training innovation, followed by K-12 and higher education. Pre-K, however, makes a small part of the overall landscape.
The US-based company also announced the list of its 50 best edtech startups in the region. This included nine of EdVentures' portfolio of startups.
Edited by Kanishk Singh