12 Kenyan Startups Secure Backing Under the Latest Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship

Twelve Kenyan education technology start-ups developing solutions for learners with disabilities, refugees and other underserved communities have secured backing under the latest Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, as demand grows for digital tools that make education more inclusive.

• •Half of the 12 companies selected for the fourth cohort are developing technologies specifically for people living with disabilities, highlighting growing investor and ecosystem interest in closing accessibility gaps in education.
• •Unlike previous cohorts, which ran for eight months, the latest programme will span 18 months, giving founders more time to test their technologies, gather evidence of impact and refine their business models.
• •Each company will receive up to US$ 100,000 in equity-free funding alongside technical support covering product development, business strategy, communications and pilot implementation.

"Innovation has the greatest impact when it begins with the learners who have historically been excluded," Nissi Madu, Managing Partner at iHUB, said. "These founders are tackling some of the most persistent barriers to equitable education through solutions designed with inclusion at their core."

The selected ventures include DEAFHEALTH, AssistiveMath, Signvrse, Deaf Outreach Program, SmartSteamMinds Edtech and Chipurobo, which are building assistive technologies, sign language platforms, accessible mathematics tools, specialised learning programmes and digital skills solutions for learners with disabilities.

Another four start-ups — Neurollect Audread, JUZA AI Ltd, Ubuntu Universe Limited and RYEH CBO — are targeting refugees, displaced populations and underserved rural communities through multilingual, AI-powered and offline learning technologies. Gwiji for Women and Tausi App focus on improving access to vocational, entrepreneurial and digital skills for girls and young women.

The programme, delivered by iHUB in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has shifted its focus from scaling relatively mature companies to supporting earlier-stage innovators addressing systemic barriers to education.

One of the fellowship's earlier beneficiaries, M-Lugha, says the programme helped expand its language-learning platform to more than 14,000 learners across 35 counties, with the application now downloaded in 130 countries.

Wariko Waita, Director of the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning at the Mastercard Foundation, said education technology should be measured by its ability to widen access rather than simply digitise classrooms.