Snapplify, a South African edtech startup has secured $2 million funding round to boost international expansion and advance its data analytics capabilities to enhance classroom teaching effectiveness.
Snapplify provides a marketplace for digital education content, related educational services, and devices, offering e-learning solutions to over 1,400 schools, colleges and universities, and more than 200,000 students.
The new funding comes from venture capital firm Knife Capital, via KNF Ventures, and empowered African investment manager Hlayisani Capital’s Hlayisani Growth Fund.
The funding will enable the company to gain more customers and increase its market footprint through business development, growing the team and refining customer-led product features.
Wesley Lynch, Chief executive officer (CEO) said: “We are excited to have Knife Capital and Hlayisani on board to enable this vision, particularly because in addition to financial backing, we also need expert guidance from an aligned shareholder base to expand more aggressively into new markets in our next growth phase.”
Snapplify was originally backed by AngelHub Ventures in its seed and Series A rounds, alongside international investors. AngelHub now forms part of Hlayisani Capital’s Growth Fund.
“Snapplify is a globally competitive business that has excelled with a powerful and relevant solution for both emerging and developed markets.
“It is fantastic to build on the platform that was established with the initial investment from AngelHub by bringing investors such as Knife and Hlayisani on board to ensure that Snapplify continues its journey as one of the companies to inspire Africa,” said Brett Commaille, partner at Hlayisani.
Knife Capital co-managing partner Andrea Bӧhmert said her company had been following Snapplify’s growth journey since inception, and that it was a privilege to partner with the company and its stakeholders.
“Africa faces a wide range of social and economic challenges, from access to affordable tertiary education to a skills shortage across a number of key industries. Though it would be over-optimistic to say that e-learning alone can overcome these challenges, the impact is clearly measurable,” she said.
“At Knife Capital, we believe in investing in companies that solve real problems and in doing so generate meaningful returns to stakeholders and shareholders alike. Snapplify is such a company and we look forward to being part of the next growth phase.”
