65 Foundations & Investors Who Fund Education Ventures in Africa
A list of funders deploying capital to support education reforms and innovation across the continent.
This article is Part II in a series; for advice on how to use this list to start fundraising, read Part I.
Want EdWell’s articles straight to your inbox — with jobs & events? Sign up for our newsletter!
“I’m fundraising. Who should I be talking to?”
When entrepreneurs are starting out, this is the question that they ask over and over. Whether they are raising a round for a for-profit, or seeking grants for a nonprofit, fundraising is usually a priority.
When my Co-Founder and I started an education nonprofit in Kenya, it took us many months to understand who were the most important foundations to talk to. As I built my own list of funders, I watched Metis Fellows and other early-stage education entrepreneurs duplicate the same work. We all researched the information we could find online and asked everyone we knew for advice, to create our prospect list. We all met funders who, after talking to us for an hour, said we were too early stage for them. We were all introduced to young entrepreneurs who wanted to ‘pick our brain’ and ask us which investors they should talk to. I became frustrated with how inefficient fundraising can be, because it wastes an entrepreneur’s most precious resource: time.
Although there are thousands of entrepreneurs focused on education reform across Africa, there is no easy way for them to see which funders support what kind of work and where. There is no quick way to know who is appropriate for talk to at which stage of their organization’s development. This list aims to help solve that problem, so that leaders and entrepreneurs can spend more time focused on what matters most — building models that transform learning outcomes for children and youth.
The list groups funders into stages based on the organizations they support:
Prior to accessing capital from these funders, most entrepreneurs start their venture with savings and/or a ‘friends and family round’ — you can find more about this and how to get started with fundraising in my other article.
If there is a funder who you would add to this list — particularly in West, Central, or North Africa —please mention them in the comments.
1. EARLY-STAGE
These funders typically take higher risks and are often a venture’s first institutional funder. They all provide hands-on technical assistance in addition to capital.Support to Non- & For-Profits:
Anzisha Education Accelerator: Seed funding/ advisory support for African entrepreneurs growing innovative school models. Run by African Leadership Academy. Open application process. Jihad Hajjouji (Lagos).
David & Elaine Potter Foundation: Supports pilot projects, edtech, and orgs that influence policy in literacy, STEM, and teacher training in South Africa. Open application process. Ben Stewart (London).
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation: Grants to nonprofits that are 1–3 years old with models designed for scale, such as Food4Education (3-year grants of $100k per year). Open application process. Adithya Narayanan (Bangalore) advises their ed work globally; Bill Rodriguez (Gabarone) leads their Africa portfolio.
Echoing Green: Highly competitive Fellowship with funding/advisory support for non- and for-profits ($80k). Fellows include Kidogo, WAVE, Eneza, and Fundi Bots. Open application process. Cheryl Dorsey (DC).
EWB Ventures: Invests in early-stage companies across Sub-Saharan Africa, such as M-Shule. Also runs a Fellowship that places Canadian talent with early-stage for- and non-profits in Kenya/Uganda/Ghana (at no cost to the start-ups). Muthoni Wachira (Nairobi) leads their new fund, Hummingbird Impact, which focuses on African and female-led ventures.
Firelight Foundation: Funds locally-led community-based-organizations working with children and youth in East/Southern Africa. Has a detailed theory of change for how they support CBO’s to work in clusters and magnify their impact at a systemic level. Nina Blackwell (Palo Alto).
Future Fund for Education: Funds early-stage African edupreneurs. Open application process. Noella Moshi (Lagos).
Girl Rising Global Education Fund: Raises capital from other donors to fund and support early-stage locally-led ed nonprofits in Kenya, such as Sunflower Trust and Big Picture Learning Kenya. Kathy Bartlett (Denver).
Global Fund for Children: Funds locally-led early-stage community-based-organizations that work with children across Africa, such as Malaika. Alexander Kyerematen (DC).
Injini: Accelerator/funding for early-stage non- and for-profit edtech organizations in Africa, such as Syafunda and Lumen Labs (~$6k grant with potential for up to ~$60k of follow-on investment). Open application process. Krista Davidson (Cape Town).
Innovation Edge: Seed funding/technical support to test/scale-up ideas in early childhood ed in South Africa. Runs the Think Future conference. Open application process. Sonja Giese (Cape Town).
Issroff Family Foundation: Grants to locally-led early-stage nonprofits in East Africa, such as Teach for Uganda and Resonate. Lisa Issroff (New York).
PaperSeed Foundation: Grants to locally-led ed orgs in Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa ($5k–25k). Aliyya Mattos (San Francisco).
Segal Family Foundation: Supports grassroots organizations across East and West Africa, including many ed nonprofits (multi-year grants of $10k-100k per year). Runs incubators in Malawi and Rwanda, and the African Visionary Fellowship for African entrepreneurs. One of the best funders as they provide intensive technical assistance and actively connect their grantees to other funders. Gladys Onyango (Nairobi).
Umsizi Fund: Runs a network for and funds orgs working on youth unemployment, including WAVE and Harambee. Amy Brakeman (Boston).
For-Profits Only:
EdVentures: Funds early-stage ed companies in Egypt. Maged Harby (Cairo).
Enygma Ventures: Trains and invests in women-led, scalable, early-stage businesses across SADC (~$450k). A focus area is ed companies, such as Educartis. Lelemba Phiri (Cape Town) is their operating partner.
Mercy Corps Ventures: Funds orgs focused on job creation, such as Lynk. Open application process. Scott Onder (Portland) and Jerioth Mwaura (Nairobi) manage their DfID-supported Kenya Catalytic Jobs Fund.
Optimizer Foundation: Invests in early-stage for-profits in ed and health in East Africa, such as Somo and Arifu ($100k–150k). Helena Riese Harstad (London).
2. GROWTH STAGE
These funders typically require at least a few years of traction or proof of a certain amount of revenue before they consider partnering to provide a grant or invest.Support to Non- & For-Profits:
Acumen: Has a new fund that invests in ed companies in East Africa working at pre-primary/ primary/ secondary levels ($200k-1 million). Also has a Fellowship for leaders of non- and for-profits in East Africa, with an open application process. Abdul-Karim Mohamed (Nairobi).
African Visionary Fund: A new pooled fund that will provide unrestricted, multiyear grants to African-led nonprofits. Inspired by the Segal Foundation’s African Visionary Fellowship, they will fund orgs that already have a proof of concept, to scale. Sign up for their mailing list for updates. Katie Bunten-Wamaru (Boston).
Allan Grey Orbis Foundation: Funds scholarships, entrepreneurship training, and seed capital for South African youth, and funds the Jakes Gerwel Fellowship for ed leaders. The Allan & Gill Grey Foundation (a separate entity) funds programs in Kenya. Yogavelli Nambiar (Cape Town).
Banyan Tree Foundation: Anonymous grants to ed nonprofits. Wangui Nyaga (Nairobi) manages their Africa portfolio.
Bernard van Leer Foundation: Focused on scaling high-impact work in ECD in Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and other countries. Also funds programs and courses for leaders in ECD across Africa. Irina Ivan (The Hague).
Blue Haven Initiative: Has a philanthropic arm that focuses on skills training and developing human capital across East and West Africa, partnering with orgs such as Yusudi ($250k). BHI also does impact investments but not in the ed sector. Megan McCarthy (Boston) leads their philanthropic arm.
DG Murray Trust: Funds work in ECD and skills for employment in South Africa, such as Innovation Edge. Open application process. David Harrison (Cape Town).
Echidna Giving: Funds orgs and networks working on girls’ ed in the Global South, particularly ECD and secondary. Their great monthly blog shares trends and resources on girls’ ed. Dana Schmidt (Palo Alto).
ELMA Foundation: Funds orgs working on ed and health for children across East and Southern Africa, such as SmartStart. Their Community Grants Program funds smaller organizations. Tressa Johnson (New York).
Global Innovation Fund: Funds orgs to test and scale their model, such as Lively Minds and Educate. Open application process. Avinash Mitra (London).
Gray Matters Capital: Invests in and grants to early-stage social enterprises with a focus on girls’ ed. Most investments are outside Africa (such as the Education Catalyst Fund, which invests in edtech companies in India), but a few are (such as Omega Schools). Erika Norwood (Atlanta).
IDP Foundation: Supports low-cost private schools in Ghana through the IDP Rising Schools Program and the Sesame Workshop teacher training program. Allison Rohner Lawshe (Chicago).
IKEA Foundation: Funds orgs that are training people with skills for employment, such as Kepler and STIR. Patrick Obonyo (Amsterdam) and Vivek Singh (Amsterdam).
Imaginable Futures: Grants and investments to non- and for-profits working on ECD and skills for employment across Africa, such as SmartStart, SPARK Schools, and Ubongo. Recently spun out of Omidyar Network. Teresa Mbagaya (Nairobi) and Shikha Goyal (London) lead the Africa ed portfolio.
Kays Foundation: Focused on ECD and life skills in Kenya with a long-term, systems change approach. Khilen Nathwani (London).
Lester Fund: Grants to ed nonprofits in East and West Africa, including WAVE and Kakenya Academy. Bonnie Potter (New York).
LGT Venture Philanthropy: Funds orgs with scalable models in the areas of ed, health, and the environment, such as Harambee and Liberian Education Advancement Program. Also has a Fellowship which places talent in their portfolio companies. Nava Emilia Anvari (Nairobi).
Malala Fund: Supports girls’ ed in Nigeria, through their Gulmaki Network for local ed activists. Raoul Davion (Montana).
Mulago Foundation: Grants and Fellowship program for leaders of early-stage, highly scalable nonprofits, such as Ubongo, Food4Education, and Rising Academies. Kevin Starr (San Francisco).
Porticus: Funds work in ECD and vocational skills training. Kerubo Okioga (Nairobi).
Rockdale Foundation: Funds teacher/school leader training and ed reform in Sierra Leone. Jody Stephenson (Atlanta).
UBS Optimus Foundation: Supports innovative methods for financing ed innovation; funded development impact bonds and the Injini accelerator. John Soleanicov (Geneva).
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund: Funds grassroots ed organizations and RELI, a network for their ed grantees across East Africa to create collective impact. Tends to donate anonymously. Joyce Malombe (DC).
For-Profits Only:
ADAP Capital: Invests in growing for-profits across emerging markets in sectors including ed (~$75k). Andy Lower (LA).
Educate Global Fund: Invests in medium-size companies across East Africa providing services that impact ed outcomes, including health, nutrition, sanitation, and tech (~$1–5 million). Sandrine Henton (Nairobi).
Future of Learning Fund: Supports innovative ed companies across Africa, such as Arifu and Akili Network. Julia Moffett (Nairobi).
Mastercard Foundation Edtech Fellowship: A new program that funds/supports edtech companies, such as Instill ($40k). Peter Materu (DC) leads ed for MCF.
Novastar Ventures: Invests in early-stage/scalable/tech-enabled for-profits, such as Lynk and Bridge International Academies. Niraj Varia (Nairobi).
Pearson Ventures: Invests in ed companies in South Africa, such as SPARK Schools ($1.5–5 million). Previously invested in Omega Schools through Pearson Affordable Learning Fund. Owen Henkel (London).
3. SCALE STAGE
These funders often have many conditions for a venture to be eligible for partnership — such as tight financial controls, strong impact measurement systems, an experienced management team and board of directors, and a sustained track record of capital from other funders.Support to Non- & For-Profits:
Co-Impact: Funds proven interventions to scale up and reach millions of beneficiaries in ed, such as Teaching at the Right Level. Focus is mobilizing huge amounts of capital towards systems change ($10–25 million per project). Open application process. Olivia Leland (London).
Dubai Cares: Funds initiatives from ECD up to primary/secondary and vocational training, in African countries such as Mozambique, Ghana, and Liberia. Anna Bertmar Khan (Dubai).
Hilton Foundation: Funds ECD for children affected by HIV in East/Southern Africa, such as SHOFCO and Mothers2Mothers. Lisa Bohmer (Los Angeles).
LEGO Foundation: Funds work in ECD and ed in South Africa. Hosted the Africa Play conference in 2019. Kerry Kassen (Johannesburg).
Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works: Supports orgs training youth with skills for employment, such as Moringa School and CAP-YEI. Partners typically have established track records and are prepared to scale ($ multi-million, multi-year grants). Peter Materu (DC) leads ed for MCF.
Vitol Foundation: Grants to orgs in ed and livelihoods across Africa. Titise Kode is Head of Education (London).
For-Profits Only:
CDC Group: UK’s development finance arm. Invests large ticket sizes in later-stage companies, such as Bridge Academies and GEMS ($10 million+). Also invests in funds such as Novastar Ventures. Maina Sahi (London).
DOB Equity: Invests in companies prepared to scale, such as Moringa School. Anne Njuki (Nairobi).
IFC: Invests in later-stage companies such as Bridge Academies and Andela ($ multi-million ticket sizes). Wale Ayeni (DC) leads venture capital for IFC in emerging markets; Biju Mohandas (Nairobi) leads ed in Sub-Saharan Africa.
4. GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIPS
These entities typically support large-scale multi-million dollar projects that partner with governments. They often fund through an RFP process limited to organizations that fit strict criteria (years of audited accounts, track record of handling large grants, and experience supporting governments).Big Win Philanthropy: Supports teams reforming government ed ministries in Ghana, Liberia, and Ethiopia. Also supports results-based financing for ed in Africa through the Education Outcomes Fund. Patricia Ndegwa (Nairobi).
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Has a new strategy to support tools for governments reforming public ed across Africa and the Research on Improving Systems of Education Program. Girindre Beeharry (London).
DFID: Funds a range of initiatives such as a new Edtech Hub that supports research about edtech in low- and middle-income countries. Funded the SPRING Accelerator and Human Development Innovation Fund in Tanzania (both accelerators that supported ed companies), the Girls’ Education Challenge, and SPHEIR for innovation in higher ed. Molly Jamieson Eberhardt (Boston) is Engagement Director for the Edtech Hub; Chris Berry (Freetown) leads ed for DFID.
Education Outcomes Fund for Africa & the Middle East: Brings together donors, investors, and governments to fund and coordinate outcomes-based financing for large-scale ed projects. Launched in 2018. Jared Lee (London).
Global Partnership for Education: Raises and deploys funds to most governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen their public ed systems, in areas such as teacher quality and assessment. Open application process. Fazle Rabbani (DC) manages their work in many African countries.
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation: Funds public ed reform in South Africa, by supporting the government’s use of data dashboards to drive school quality. Also supports skills for employment programs and scholarships for first-generation college students. Dean Villet (Cape Town).
UNICEF: Supports ed initiatives in many African countries, typically at large grant sizes. Florian Rabenstein (Nairobi) leads ed for UNICEF in Kenya.
USAID: Supports a range of ed programs across Africa, such as the Tusome initiative implemented by RTI in Kenya. Often hires contractors to implement, such as DAI and Chemonics. Nancy Taggart (New York) and Nina Papadopoulos (DC).
World Bank: Funds many initiatives such as the 2018 Schooling for Learning in Africa report and coding bootcamps through Moringa School. Amanda Devercelli (Kenya) leads ECD globally; Michael Trucano (DC) leads ed innovation globally and runs an edtech blog.
Zenex Foundation: Supports governments in four provinces in South Africa to strengthen their delivery of maths and language. Also influences policy through research and thought leadership. Gail Campbell (Johannesburg).
5. INACTIVE FUNDERS
For your reference, entities who are no longer funding ed orgs in Africa.Children’s Investment Fund Foundation: Funded public-private partnerships such as the Tayari ECD initiative in Kenya. No longer funding in the ed sector, but is still funding in health and other areas impacting children. The former CEO launched Big Win Philanthropy.
Partnership to Strengthen Innovation & Practice in Secondary Education: Funder collaborative that supported orgs working in secondary ed, from 2011 to 2019.
Village Capital: In 2014, VilCap partnered with Pearson and Omidyar Network to run an accelerator for African ed companies that included Shule Direct, Kidogo, and Ubongo. VilCap has also run events on the Future of Work in East Africa.
A note on why names of staff, locations, and LinkedIn pages are included — Entrepreneurs accelerate their fundraising through relationships with specific people within funding entities. Info about key staff helps entrepreneurs to know who is the right person for them to connect to and which cities they should try to visit on their fundraising trips.
Article was published on May 7, 2020; information may have changed since that date.
Kat Pattillo writes about education reform and innovation across the Global South. She is currently studying how social movements accelerate systems change in education, through an MPhil in Politics at Oxford. Kat previously consulted as a researcher and facilitator, taught at African Leadership Academy in South Africa, and co-founded Metis in Kenya. For more of her writing, follow her on LinkedIn or sign up for the EdWell newsletter.
