AltSchool Africa calls itself the “African BloomTech” of US coding boot camps. It recently opened In Kenya, its second-largest revenue market.
A startup with 60,000 users in over 100 countries offers training to accelerate global tech careers. According to Co-founder and CEO Adewale Yusuf, Kenya is behind Nigeria in student enrollment. Thus, it makes sense to open in Kenya.
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Kenya, an African country, is where the company is doing well; it makes the second most money. Because of this, AltSchool will now focus on giving its Kenyan customers more personal help and working to make it easier for them to pay.
Yusuf said, “People already know us, but this will give us a chance to grow.” Kenyan operations will be run by Tabitha Kayvu, AltSchool’s Country manager.
The company started in 2021 as a way for people to get licences in engineering, data, and business analytics online. Since then, interest in its services has grown outside of Nigeria. It is now present in the United States and Rwanda, where it opened an office at the Norrsken hub in 2023.
The company said AltSchool’s relationships with influential people in Kenya made a difference. “We are in talks with different groups on the ground to make sure that Kenyans can get the skills that are in high demand around the world that Alt school offers.”
Now, the edtech startup has short classes on sales, content, and music-making. Yusuf says the new company will keep these services in Kenya and teach them in English. There are also plans to teach Swahili.
training future Africans
The disparity in skill sets between the 3 million employed people and the 10 million job seekers in Africa is evident. AltSchool, founded by Adewale Yusuf, Akintunde Sultan, and Opeyemi Awoyemi, trains youngsters in business, data, engineering, media, and the creative economy.
Our edtech startups provide adjustable monthly pricing between $20 and $50 for various courses. They also follow the income-sharing agreement (ISA) model popularised by ALX, where students share a percentage of their future income for lower upfront expenses.
AltSchool supports 60,000 students in 105 countries and earns $3 million in Annual Recurring Revenue, according to Yusuf. According to Yusuf, AltSchool plans to expand in its present markets. The startup received $30 million from the Rwanda Innovation Fund. Pitchbook reports that the business raised $3 million in May and $1 million in pre-seed capital in 2022.
“We want to deepen our presence in existing countries,” Yusuf told Reuters regarding the startup’s future.
Choosing Tabitha Kayvu to lead Kenya
AltSchool named Tabitha Kayvu to lead its Kenyan operations. It isn’t easy despite her efforts to promote the startup in the country. Her duties included increasing enrollment, simplifying payments, and applying her experience in that country.
Before the programme launched, TalentQL graduate Tabitha worked with the company.
Since she’s been here so long, some forget she’s from Kenya. Below is her deep integration into our system. Tabitha should lead Kenya’s startup. She’s helped us develop a community well. Tabitha is the ideal Kenyan growth partner. In the following few months, she can accomplish much. Everything she needs to succeed in Kenya is there.