Kenyan Startup Guiding Students on University Courses Raises Ksh111 Million

Craydel co-founders John Nguru (left) Manish Sardana (centre) and Shayne Aman Premji.
Craydel co-founders John Nguru (left) Manish Sardana (centre) and Shayne Aman Premji.
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A Kenyan startup that guides students on decisions on university and course selections, has raised Ksh111 million as pre-seed funding in a bid to expand into other African countries.

The startup, Craydel offers a platform that compares colleges, course options and tuition fees. It empowers students and helps them make decisions by providing them with access to a portal that provides statistics about university courses.

The company was founded by John Nguru, Mannish Sardana and Shayne Aman Premji. 

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UoN students celebrate after graduating in December 2019
File

“An estimated Ksh3 trillion is spent on higher education in Africa each year, but the current student experience in accessing higher education is terrible. There is no collection of choices, and decision-making is subject to prejudice and misinformation,"  Sardana stated.

Among the companies that contributed to the funding include South African intelligence fund BriteGaze, Silicon Valley-based Bisk Ventures, Pan-African venture Enza Capital, San Francisco-based investment firm Tekton ventures, Kenyan-based Chandaria Capital, among others.

"Access to higher education and skills development for Africa's growing youth population remains fragmented, yet is a fundamental cornerstone to our accelerated development."

"Craydel is building the rails to democratise access to higher education and to support millions of Africans up this curve," a representative at Enza capital stated.

With the pre-seed funding, the company is set to also upgrade search engines to make better suggestions in order to provide better resources to help students make informed decisions.

Currently, the startup offers over 3,000 higher education programs and has partnered with more than 90 universities and colleges.

"Craydel is building rails to democratize access to higher education and help millions of Africans climb this curve," Sardana pointed out.

Other ed-tech startups launched in Kenya include Kidato (which provides lessons for students up to the age of 18), Energy Education (enables learning with mobile technology) and e-rim literacy app. 

An image of Craydel, Kenyan startup company, logo pictured in April 2021.
An image of Craydel, Kenyan startup company, logo pictured in April 2021.
Craydel / Twitter