Mentornaut, an Estonian online tutoring platform, has recently announced that it has raised €200K in a new funding round led by the Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN).
Founded in 2020 by Markus Meresma and Gregor Mändma, Mentornaut is developing an online learning platform to help bridge knowledge gaps and support students in achieving their maximum potential in school. The platform was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdown restrictions brought students around the world into remote learning. As distance and remote learning become more common globally, Mentornaut was established with the realisation that parents are becoming increasingly open to private tutoring to help their children overcome learning gaps.
Mentornaut aims to increase inclusion in personalised education. It uses a proactive approach to grow its body of tutors with students, schoolteachers, and experienced private tutors brought on board to increase diversity and help more people get affordable access to personalised learning.
The startup claims to have seen 2,500 private lessons booked on its platform since its launch in Estonia in 2020. According to its co-founder Meresma, many have “rediscovered the fun in learning,” through the platform. The company has launched its tutoring platform in Kenya and it claims to have witnessed over 120 sign-up requests to tutor onboarding in the first few hours.
Commenting on the impact that Mentornaut can have in Africa, Veljo Otsason, Founding Partner at Superangel, said, “Mentornaut’s bold vision of empowering local education systems is impressive. Personalised education for kids in Africa is still largely unaddressed but necessary to build better societies and economies.”
It is worth mentioning here that in Africa the average pupil-to-teacher ratio in primary schools is extremely high at 42:1, which results in the need for private supplementary tutoring.
According to reports, the new funding from EstBAN will be used to further advance the automation of the platform, streamlining personalized education for parents, children, and private tutors across Africa and Eastern Europe. Mentornaut’s long-term vision is to create a personalised learning system to shape the emergence of personal learning pathways and support studies in general education schools.
Mentornaut counts Superangel, United Angels VC, and a list of EdTech advocates like Bolt co-founder Martin Villig, and Clanbeat co-founder Kadri Tuisk among its investors.
