Almentor.net, a leading video e-learning platform in the MENA region, has raised $6.5 million in a Series B funding round led by global venture capital firm Partech.
Other investors like Sawari Ventures, Egypt Ventures, and Sango Capital also participated in the round.
Almentor was founded in 2016 by Ihab Fikry and Ibrahim Kamel to fill the gap of online learning content and material for Arabic speakers. It provides a cutting-edge online video marketplace for e-learning and professional people development networks by offering a wide range of exclusive training courses and motivational/informative talks in Arabic and English. The course content and talks cover a wide range of topics, including health, humanities, technology, entrepreneurship, business management, lifestyle, drama, sports, corporate communication, and digital media among many others.
With the vision to inspire Arab self-learners to excel and reach their greatest potential, Almentor provides learners with the necessary skills crucially needed to advance their professional careers and personal lives. The platform claims to have the biggest continuous learning library in the MENA region and one of the biggest worldwide. Its video content is developed in-house and available in Arabic and English.
Talking about the company, Dr. Ihab Fikry, Co-founder and CEO of Almentor, said,
“We are now leading the continuous video learning industry in the Arab region, and we have a responsibility that goes beyond our ambitions for Almentor Company. Our responsibility now is to work unceasingly to improve the industry as a whole in the Arab region, and this can only be achieved through gaining the confidence of the Arab learners in the value, professionalism, and impartiality of the content provided by the platform, and working in line with the global learning trends.”
There are more than 400 million Arabic speakers globally and that number isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Arabic, to most people, is a tough language even to those who speak it. According to Duolingo, someone fluent in Egyptian Arabic might not fully understand Yemini Arabic speakers because of the vast difference in dialect. While individuals can easily navigate dialects, it can be relatively hard for them to find tailored Arabic content essential for everyday life. Almentor created its online video learning platform to compensate for this lack of online learning content for Arabic speakers.
The company plans to improve content production and quality and educate people in the MENA region on why they need the product with the latest investment.
Commenting on the investment, Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech, said,
“We are very proud to lead this latest round of financing. Since our first interaction, we have been very impressed by Ihab and Ibrahim, two fantastic mission-driven entrepreneurs who have been executing on a bold vision since 2016, and who built the leading Arabic self-learning go-to content provider in the Middle East and Africa. We are looking forward to supporting the company in its next phase of growth to serve the 430 million Arabic-speaking populations and expand access to on-demand cutting-edge personal learning & development options.”
With the latest funding, Almentor has raised a total of $14.5 million to date. Prior to this round, the company had raised $3.5 million in seed funding in 2016 and $4.5 million in Series A in 2019 led by Sawari Ventures.
