Edtech solution Schoolap lands Labes Key Seedstars Kinshasa 2018 win

Congolese software development startup Labes Key has been selected as the winner of the 2018 edition of the Seedstars Kinshasa pitch competition.

The Kinshasa-based startup was crowned the winner of the Seedstars Kinshasa pitch event after its edtech enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Schoolap was selected ahead of 10 other solutions at an event held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) capital last Friday (21 September).

The pitching event is only the second such annual pitch that Seedstars has hosted in the DRC.

Labes Key’s Schoolap platform aims to improve the quality of teaching in the central African country by providing users with access to digital lessons online.

Labes Key’s Schoolap ERP platform was selected ahead of 10 other startups that pitched at the second Seedstars Kinshasa pitch event

In addition, the platform — which also enables parents to monitor and track student performance and attendance — includes a school administration module as well as payments capabilities.

Labes Key will next year represent the DRC at the global Seedstars Summit in Switzerland where it stands to win up to $1-million in equity investments.

By winning the Seedstars Kinshasa event, the software company also landed a ticket to the regional Seedstars Summit which will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in December.

The software developer was founded in 2015 by Pkanik Shiapa and Pascal Kanik. The startup’s other products include business administration platform labesBOX and healthtech platform MedapERP.

In a statement yesterday (24 September), Kanik said he did not expect the victory. He also thanked Seedstars for the impact the organisation has made on the DRC’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In March, Labes Key’s Schoolap edtech platform was also selected as the winner of the Kinshasa Digital Week Startup Contest.

Seedstars World’s next African pitch event is Seedstars Maputo and takes place in the Mozambican capital this Friday (28 September).

Featured image: Labes Key team celebrating their Seedstars Kinshasa win with the Seedstars World team and other attendees on Friday 21 September in Kinshasa (Supplied)