Zenda, a startup looking to change how parents pay school bills and educational institutions manage fee collection, is eyeing Africa as its next frontier for growth.
Zenda plans to enter the continent through Egypt in the coming months, as it embark on a growth drive accelerated by a $9.4 million seed funding it has raised.
Through its app, Zenda allows parents to pay fees directly to schools, while streamlining collections by enabling schools to accept and manage payments online. All transactions on Zenda happen in real-time, so parents no longer need to provide bank deposit slips as proof of payment. The startup has an embedded financing option that extends tuition fee credit to parents on a flexible repayment structure.
The startup was founded in June of last year by two ex-McKinsey and Company staff.
Qureos raises $3M to grow its learn to earn platform
Thiagarajan said that the Zenda borrows from their first social edtech startup called nexquare. Thiagarajan, who led McKinsey's financial services practice in the Middle East and North Africa region, said that their first startup helped them understand the education market at a granular level.
Fee payments in schools are mostly manual, and where it is digital, it is cumbersome, expensive and has a manual aspect to it.
We understand the education sector because of the knowledge we have from our previous venture. He said that they have a parent-facing app that they integrate into educational institutions.
Zenda is expected to go beyond school fee payment in the future. The image is called Zenda.
The investors that took part in the seed round were STV.
The general partner of STV, Ihsan Jawad, said that the team identified a gap in the market and in supporting families on a topic that is very important to them. We couldn't be more excited about Zenda. The market for private education fees in the U.S. is $8 billion and they are poised to capture leadership.
Zenda's users have increased 20 times, with the app reaching over $100 million in annual contracted payment volumes by the end of last year. The startup is looking at greater growth this year as it expands beyond the U.A.E using the new funding.
Thiagarajan said most of the funding would be used in the area of market development and customer experience.
Zenda is expected to go beyond school fee payment in the future.
Our goal is to help families thrive. We want to make it easier for families to manage their money, and to enable their financial well-being.
Sequoia Capital India, STV back Dubai-based BNPL provider tabby in $54M extension round
All Rights Reserved © 2024
