Naspers yesterday announced a-R45 million investment in The Student Hub, an online learning platform.
The funding by Naspers Foundry, the
company’s R1.4-billion early-stage tech investment vehicle, is its
fourth deal, bringing its total investments to approximately
R200-million since launch in 2019.
The Student Hub increases access to
vocational education to large numbers of students, while reducing the
costs of delivery of education and training. The company helps overcome
the constraints of limited physical infrastructure
and related resources by partnering with government accredited Technical
and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to help them
deliver courses online. The online platform also connects graduates with
work opportunities related to their skills set.
“The work of Naspers Foundry is one of the key focus areas of our business in South Africa,” says Phuthi
Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa CEO of Naspers. “We believe tech
companies have the potential to be the cornerstone
of South Africa’s economic growth and we want to play a role in
unlocking that potential. Our investment in The Student Hub is an
example of how digitalisation has the potential to address unequal
access to education, create local opportunities, and enable
increased participation towards a more inclusive economy.”
Fabian Whate, Head of Naspers
Foundry, said: “Over the last 18 months, Naspers Foundry has supported
promising, best-in-class early stage tech businesses run by local
entrepreneurs that have significant long-term potential
and address societal needs. We are thrilled with our first edtech
investment as Naspers Foundry, and we look forward to working with
Hertzy and his team at The Student Hub. We continue to execute
transactions against a robust pipeline of potential investment
opportunities.”
Hertzy Kabeya, founder and CEO of
The Student Hub, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Naspers
given their deep international experience in the edtech sector. We are a
technology company that believes that improving
access to education to millions of students across South Africa is at
the core of what we do. Linking graduates with the right economic
opportunities that relates to their skills are what the economy needs
right now.”
The Student Hub
digitalises TVET course content to present curricula in a personalised
and learner-centric environment through a fully online distance-learning
model, as well as through a blended learning
model to students who attend classes in person at TVET campuses
nationwide. The platform provides tools for lecturers and tutors to
track individual student performance and for heads of faculties to
measure the productivity and performance of lecturers in real
time, resulting in a marked increase in pass rates. Its crowdfunding
tools assist students in financing their studies and enable donors to
follow the progress of their beneficiaries, while an integrated skills
marketplace matches graduates to entry-level job
placements.
In 2019, Naspers Foundry invested
R30-million in online home cleaning services business, SweepSouth, and
R100-million in May this year, in agritech business Aerobotics, a
subscription-based artificial intelligence company.
In September, it invested in Food Supply Network, a B2B online
marketplace that integrates food ordering systems across the food
services industry.
Of the total
R4.6-billion that Naspers committed to invest at the inaugural South
Africa Investment Conference, which includes the R1.4-billion for
Naspers Foundry, the group has so far invested R1.9-billion
of its original pledge in its existing South Africa businesses Takealot,
Mr D Food, Superbalist, Media24 and OLX.
Additionally, R69-million has been
invested in Naspers Labs, Naspers’s youth development programme, which
provides unemployed young people with the confidence and training to
pursue tech careers in preparation for a more
digitally-driven local economy.
Naspers donated R500-million to the
Solidarity Fund towards the country’s Covid-19 relief efforts and
sourced and delivered R1-billion’s worth of personal protection
equipment for South Africa’s frontline healthcare workers
earlier this year.
