Injini announces second cohort for the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship

• Injini, Africa’s EdTech Accelerator and Think Tank, has announced its second cohort for the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship.
• Twelve recently selected growth-stage EdTech companies will undergo a rigorous six-month program and will receive specialized acceleration support valued at over R2,500,000.

After a rigorous application and interview process, Injini is pleased to announce its second cohort of 12 EdTech companies participating in the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship with the EdTech accelerator and think tank.

“Drawing on insights gained from our inaugural cohort, we are looking forward to collaborating with these 12 companies to enhance educational outcomes in South Africa,” says Krista Davidson, Executive Director at Injini. “Through meaningful dialogues with the Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments last year, we gained valuable understanding of the most pressing needs of South African schools, learners, teachers, and parents.”

The challenges identified in these discussions include a lack of quality teachers, limited access to relevant educational resources, and the administrative burden on teachers, among others.

With this in mind, Injini is proud to announce the latest cohort of Fellows, each selected for their innovative solutions to these critical problems. These solutions range from providing one-on-one tutoring support for reading skills and offering entrepreneurial learning opportunities to optimising ICT infrastructure in schools and using gamification for financial education.

Additionally, the Fellows focus on empowering teachers with professional development tools, transforming lessons into practical tech projects, and creating inclusive learning environments with multilingual capabilities. 

The 2024 Injini EdTech Fellows are:

• Book Village: Book Village is an online tutoring platform for reading. The platform connects foundation phase learners to volunteer tutors from around the world for one-on-one support that assists learners to read at their own level and pace. Read more: https://bookvillage.co.za/

• E-Cubed: E-Cubed offers free, digital, chat-based entrepreneurial learning, connection and innovation opportunities for teachers, learners, parents and officials. E-Cubed supports mobile-first, low-tech access to easy-to-use cutting-edge services. Read more: www.ecubed-dbe.org

• EcoLabs Africa: EcoLabs Africa optimises ICT infrastructure in township and rural schools by repurposing obsolete computer equipment to create computer labs (Ecolabs). They provide end-to-end solutions for access to emerging technologies and learning programmes. Read more: https://ecolabs.africa/

• Fintr: Fintr uses games to teach children about money, combining gamified superhero narratives, practical financial exercises, and a competitive reward system. It makes financial education fun and engaging, fostering positive financial behaviours from a young age. Read more: www.fintr.io

• Global Teachers Institute (GTI): GTI partners with schools, government and higher education institutions to offer work-integrated learning placements for aspiring teachers, supporting them financially, academically, and professionally to become reflective, empathetic, and socially responsible master teachers. Read more: https://globalteachers.org/

• Grow ECD: Grow ECD provides an ECD Management App, a one-stop-shop for ECD owners and teachers, offering tools and resources for running a professional business and classroom. It is free for all ECD owners in South Africa. Read more: https://www.growecd.org.za/

• Mindjoy: Mindjoy provides an operating system for classroom learning, equipping educators with tools to transform lessons into practical tech projects, encouraging student curiosity. The platform supports STEM teachers in adopting innovative teaching approaches. Read more: https://mindjoy.com/

• Finding Thabo, by the Reach Trust: Finding Thabo is an interactive play-based game designed to stimulate key parts of the brain and build foundations for lifelong learning. Read more: https://www.thereachtrust.org/

• RoboSTEAM: RoboSTEAM specialises in teaching coding and robotics to primary school learners, providing training for teachers on integrating these skills into any classroom. Read more: https://robosteamtrain.co.za/

• SOCO_ED: SOCO_ED provides a versatile EdTech solution suitable for any industry, including content, marketing tools, remote learning features, user profiles, quizzes, and live class sessions. They offer tutoring to FET-Phase learners in South Africa. Read more: https://www.socoed.com/

• Ubuntu Education: Ubuntu’s online HUB empowers African teachers with resources, networks, and growth opportunities. Free access to courses, webinars, and articles addresses affordability and availability challenges, aiming to advance teachers’ careers and revolutionise recruitment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Read more: https://ubuntu.education/

• Vambo AI: Vambo AI empowers learners and educators with multilingual capabilities integrated into the curriculum and learning experience. Educators can create diverse, culturally relevant content across languages, fostering inclusive and effective learning environments. Read more: https://www.vambo.ai

The EdTech Fellowship, an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning (the Centre), continues to collaborate with technology and innovation hubs as well as EdTech accelerators such as Injini across Africa. This fellowship aims to bolster promising, growth-stage EdTech ventures, enabling them to scale and make a meaningful impact in education. 

The 2024 program delivered by Injini will offer:

• Dedicated support from specialists in education innovation, fundraising, impact M&E, commerce, and more.
• Pedagogical evaluation and certification by EdTech Impact and Education Alliance Finland.
• Customised market research support from Injini’s team of education innovation researchers.
• Collaboration with experts across diverse fields who will join the Fellows’ team on a temporary basis to promptly tackle specific needs, deliver customized outcomes, and bolster long-term business success.
• Networking, knowledge-sharing, and learning opportunities with key ecosystem contributors and industry experts.
• Access to a selection of courses and office hours from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute faculty members at Carnegie Mellon University – a world leader in education technology and applied learning sciences.
• The chance to contribute to a growing body of evidence documenting “what works” in African EdTech.
• Equity-free venture funding exceeding R1,000,000.

“Our mission is to catalyze and accelerate the EdTech ecosystem. That implies that we need enough EdTech entrepreneurs working on addressing education challenges in South Africa and across the continent. This year the Mastercard Foundation is onboarding and supporting a total of 96 EdTech companies across five tech hubs. With this, we hope to serve young people,” said Joseph Nsengimana, Director of the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning.

“As South Africa’s education sector navigates its numerous challenges, Injini is eager to continue its work with the Mastercard Foundation in championing these Fellows and assisting them to scale their business, increase their impact and effect meaningful change in education across the region,” concludes Davidson. 

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