Microtraction Announces First Investment of the Year With its Backing of Edtech Startup, Gradely

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Nigerian VC firm Microtraction has announced its first investment this year, this time in an Edtech startup, Gradely. This will be the VC firm’s 13th investment all round and only its 2nd investment in an edtech startup.

This will also mean that Gradely will become the first recipient of the firm’s revised investment rates – an initial deal of N9.1 million ($25,000) at 7% equity, with an additional $50,000 investment when they attain $1 million valuation.

What is Gradely?

According to reports, Nigeria has recorded abysmal performances in the annual private West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Factors contributing to this poor performance include a dearth of funds in Nigeria’s education sector and low quality of learning resources. The implication of this is that students will have poor quality education and have a difficult time passing their exams.

This is where Gradely comes in. The startup provides an adaptive learning platform that helps provide personalised learning methods for students. The startup identifies students learning gaps and recommends specific ways to close those gaps to parents and schools.

Gradely.

The platform was founded by a team with vast experience in educational technology. Boye Oshinaga, the CEO was once the Vice President of Edutech for Venture Garden Group and co-founder Riby Finance – another Microtraction portfolio startup.

The CTO, Femi Ibiwoye, was also the CTO for PassNG – an edtech that helps students prepare for examinations online. Seyi Adelaju who is the Growth Lead has also worked as COO for SchoolCompass. Product Lead, Babatunde Caleb was Product Designer for QuizacApp.

This impressive team with a deep understanding of the space is one of the reasons Microtraction is betting on them to go big.

“We believe that Gradely’s approach moves us closer to improving the country’s recurring mass failure in Certificate examinations…We are confident in the team’s ability to pull this off by driving improved retention and results for primary and secondary school students in Africa.”

Microtraction
Microtraction Invests in Gradely, its First Investment of the Year
Co-founders of Gradely (From left, Seyi Adelaju, Boye Oshinaga, Babatunde Caleb and Femi Ibiwoye).

With Gradely, students take personalized practice questions and live tutorials using video conferencing tools and periodic tests. Parents and teachers are able to view performance feedback of the students and make informed decisions about the next step of action as recommended by Gradely.

Currently, there are 69 schools using the platform to digitize homework for their students. Gradely also has curated over 4500 Math practice questions and 80+ video lessons for West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).

Following the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, Gradely is offering some perks to students, school and parents to help with learning at home. You can read more here.


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