Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has announced the third cohort of the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, marking a significant step towards addressing critical education gaps across Africa.
The 2025 cohort, comprising 12 innovative EdTech startups, reflects a growing commitment to gender diversity and inclusion within Africa’s innovation ecosystem, with 50% of the startups led by women.
The selected startups are:
- Aiteacha (Teachers are Heroes) – enhances learning by equipping teachers with AI-powered tools to deliver personalised lessons, saving time, increasing engagement, and improving student outcomes.
- Blue and Sand ’s STEM Lab – provides virtual science labs that empower secondary schools, including those in rural areas without internet access, through real-world simulations and intuitive teacher tools.
- Cloudnotte – an all-in-one educational platform for flexible learning
- FlexiSAF Edusoft Limited – an AI-powered platform for tracking student performance and making data-driven decisions
- HiPrep Online – a virtual after-school platform for K-12 students offering personalised, bite-sized learning sessions
- I-Train Africa – an impact-driven edtech organisation that empowers African youth, women, and professionals with in-demand digital and workplace skills.
- Kryptr – an AI-powered platform addressing Africa’s workforce gap by training and connecting job-ready youth to employment opportunities
- Mavis Computel – tackles educational inequity in underserved Nigerian communities with its innovative “Talking Books”, an interactive, audio-visual learning tool designed to improve literacy and numeracy.
- Smart Steward Academy – led by women, focusing on empowering young people, particularly women, with essential skills in financial literacy, financial planning, and entrepreneurship
- Tespire – offers a mobile and web application that helps primary and secondary school owners in semi-urban Africa increase school income and leverage data-driven insights for personalised learning
- Sproutly Inc. – provides seamless payment processing for educational institutions
- VarsityScape – enables experts and institutions to launch online academies quickly, equipping African youth with skills for independence and future opportunities
Announcing the selected startups for the. Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship cohort 3, Nissi Madu, Managing Partner at CcHUB, said:
As we welcome our third cohort, we are especially excited by the innovative, high-impact solutions these startups are bringing to the table. This year, the process was more competitive than ever, as we were intentional about identifying ventures that address critical gaps in Africa’s education ecosystem
The Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, launched in 2019, aims to support EdTech companies across Africa that are tackling learning challenges in K-12, tertiary education, and vocational training. The initiative is part of the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning’s broader goal to partner with 12 tech hubs and support over 250 EdTech companies, reaching at least 1.8 million young people by the end of 2025.
Building on the success of its first and second cohorts, the Fellowship has collectively reached 676,145 learners in Nigeria, with 84% of beneficiaries being children and youth and an encouraging 53% female representation among learners.
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[03 – 04 September, 2025 – Lagos]