GOMYCODE, a Tunisian edtech startup, has closed an $8 million Series A round led by AfricInvest, through the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF), and Proparco. Wamda Capital also continued to invest, having invested in the Seed round.
The funds will help drive the startup’s mission to democratise tech education across the MEA region (the Middle East and Africa).
GOMYCODE started in Tunisia and is now present in eight countries across MEA. Every month, 1000+ new students enrol in one of GOMYCODE’s 30 educational courses with the intention of learning in-demand digital skills.
The company’s mission is to bridge the skills gap between the existing educational infrastructure in MEA and the digital skills needed in today’s global job market. The startup will open 50 new locations in 12 countries in MEA by 2024. “We’re addressing a demand that almost no other company is capturing at our scale,” said Yahya Bouhlel, CEO and co-founder of GOMYCODE.
“Local traditional training centres offer outdated content and methodology, and international online players struggle to enroll African students, due to their lack of understanding of local markets and unaffordable price points. We have a blended education model, we teach in twelve local languages and we’re positioning ourselves as a regional leader. I want to thank our investors for believing in what we’re doing, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
A unique blended education model “This fundraise will allow us to continue delivering on our mission of building a sustainable, scalable and affordable educational platform in the Middle East and Africa,” explains Amine Bouhlel, co-founder and COO of GOMYCODE. “We operate in a region where 50% of young graduates are unemployed because academic programs fail to deliver the digital skills needed in today’s labour market. Population growth exceeds the existing educational infrastructure by far, and there is a vibrant youth eager to learn and acquire new skills. GOMYCODE is providing a solution through the innovative mix of an online learning platform, instructor assistance and physical centres, making us relevant and efficient.”
GOMYCODE courses utilise an innovative blended education model: a combination of instructor-facilitated training and self-directed, active learning, designed to challenge students with clear checkpoints while giving them the flexibility to learn content at their own pace.
This blended model efficiently teaches students the most in-demand skills in the job market, offering 30+ learning tracks, ranging from web development to digital marketing, and data science to artificial intelligence, plus it is affordable and accessible for all. GOMYCODE has successfully placed 80% of its students through a job placement program and has facilitated career changes, upward mobility, and diversified income streams for thousands of graduates. A greater presence in Africa and the Middle East With seed funding from investors like Wamda capital and Flat6labs etc – 850,000 USD in October 2020 – GOMYCODE opened in Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Nigeria.
The Series A funding will drive the startup’s presence in twelve countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Saudi Arabia, and will expand its presence in countries where it is already established, including two of the biggest markets in Africa: Egypt and Nigeria, by 2024.
Khaled Ben Jilani, the Senior Partner at Africinvest, added: “We are thrilled to be part of this incredible journey with the GOMYCODE team. And we are proud to see them growing into this new phase of their development. The model they have built – scalable, affordable, and highly relevant – is solving one of Africa’s most complex and largest problems.
The edtech market is untapped in Africa, and solutions like GOMYCODE will have a huge positive impact on everyone in the tech and education ecosystem.”
Fadi Ghandour Founder of Wamda Capital “After meeting Yahya and his team during a visit to Tunis a couple of years ago, I knew we had to invest in the company, and be part of the story of preparing and training students for the future of work in a very innovative and relevant way, we are proud to continue to invest in GOMYCODE”
Khaled helioui, Investor and board member “In only a few years GOMYCODE has evolved from a small bootcamp of 15 students emerging from a coworking space in Tunisia to the fastest growing Education platform training thousands in the continent providing a platform for young men and women to build a career in technology.
It is hard to fathom the impact GOMYCODE is having locally, training over ten thousand students so far, and the elegance of their model now allows them to sustainably scale in neighbouring countries to tackle the talent shortage in Africa. What Yahya and the team are doing sets a precedent in the continent of what can be done and that young people should indeed be trusted and empowered.”
