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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Kenyan EdTech startups to benefit from Mastercard Foundation's fellowship

National

By Denis Omondi | May 25, 2024

**Mastercard Foundation Logo.** [MasterCard]

Mastercard Foundation has unveiled its second cohort of the EdTech fellowship program in which tech companies will benefit from the Sh13 million equity funding.

The group, selected from hundred and fifty applicants, comprises of twelve (12) diverse Kenyan startups that use innovative education technology tools to enable Kenyans to access quality education across basic, tertiary, and vocational training levels.

“Technology has the potential to expand access to quality and relevant education to all learners, especially those in the most underserved communities, and provide a second chance of learning to millions of out-of-school children,” remarked Joseph Nsengimana, the Director at Mastercard’s Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning.

The foundation has partnered with iHub, a Nairobi-based startup entrepreneurship accelerator, and innovation hub, to roll out the second cohort of the program which will run for eighteen months.

“We are enthusiastic about the potential of the selected startups to enhance the face of EdTech in the region. After the success of cohort I, we are excited about the second cohort’s potential to add to better outcomes for learners,” said Nissi Madu, the managing partner at iHub Kenya.

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Among the 2024 fellows include Nabu, a digital learning platform that provides learners with resources in their local dialects, the Fundis app for artisanal training, and eKitabu Studio KSL offering Kenya Sign Language literacy material to early-grade learners among others.

The Fellowship which was launched in 2019, to help scale two hundred and fifty African startups and make them sustainable and impactful by 2025, with a target to reach over 1.8 million learners draws funding from American finance and technology multinational companies, Mastercard and Microsoft, and development partner, USAID.