GOMYCODE, a Tunisain education technology startup, recently announced that it has raised $8 million in its Series A round.
The round was co-led by AfricInvest, through its Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF) and Proparco, a French-based development finance institution, with follow-on participation from existing investor, Wamda Capital.
The fresh funds will help drive the startup’s mission to democratise tech education across the MEA region (Middle East and Africa).
Founded in 2017 by brother duo, Yahya Bouhlel and Amine Bouhlel, GOMYCODE offers a wide range of creative and technical courses from coding, data analytics, digital marketing, and web development to content creation. The platform matches the trainees on its website to prospective employees. It also provides students the chance to learn in a field that captivates them.
GOMYCODE’s mission is to bridge the skills gap between the existing educational infrastructure in MEA and digital skills needed in today’s global job market.
Speaking about the company, Co-founder and CEO of GOMYCODE, Yahya Bouhlel, said:
“We’re addressing a demand that almost no other company is capturing at our scale. Local traditional training centers offer outdated content and methodology, and international online players struggle to enroll African students, due to their lack of understanding of local markets and unaffordable price points. We have a blended education model, we teach in twelve local languages and we’re positioning ourselves as a regional leader. I want to thank our investors for believing in what we’re doing, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Students on the platform go through two types of programmes. One section is composed of skills-driven introductory courses that take up to 3 months and cost an average of $250. The other section involves 5-month-long career-driven studies with an average price of $750.
Commenting on the investment, Co-founder and COO of GOMYCODE, Amine Bouhlel, said:
“This fundraise will allow us to continue delivering on our mission of building a sustainable, scalable and affordable educational platform in the Middle East and Africa. We operate in a region where 50% of young graduates are unemployed because academic programs fail to deliver the digital skills needed in today’s labor market. Population growth exceeds the existing educational infrastructure by far, and there is a vibrant youth eager to learn and acquire new skills. GOMYCODE is providing a solution through the innovative mix of an online learning platform, instructor assistance and physical centers, making us relevant and efficient.”
GOMYCODE courses utilise an innovative blended education model: a combination of instructor-facilitated training and self-directed, active learning, designed to challenge students with clear checkpoints while giving them the flexibility to learn content at their own pace. This blended model efficiently teaches students the most in-demand skills in the job market, offering 30+ learning tracks, ranging from web development to digital marketing, data science to artificial intelligence, plus it is affordable and accessible for all. The startup is in partnership with a couple of institutions to provide placement for its students, and has successfully placed 80% of its students through a job placement program. It has facilitated career changes, upward mobility, and diversified income streams for thousands of graduates.
The EdTech firm is currently present in 8 countries: Tunisia, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Nigeria. It hopes the new investment will deliver their expansion plan into 4 more countries–South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Saudi Arabia, while continuing to deepen its footprints in its existing markets. The platform has grown from 100 students in its first year to around 4,000 active students today and intends to reach 100,000 students and open 50 centres across Africa and the Middle East in the next 2 years.
Khaled Ben Jilani, Senior Partner, Africinvest, added:
“We are thrilled to be part of this incredible journey with the GOMYCODE team. And we are proud to see them growing into this new phase of their development. The model they have built – scalable, affordable, and highly relevant – is solving one of Africa’s most complex and largest problems. The edtech market is untapped in Africa, and solutions like GOMYCODE will have a huge positive impact on everyone in the tech and education ecosystem.”
In October 2020, GOMYCODE had raised $850,000 million in a pre-Series A round from Wamda Capital, with participation from Tunis-based investment firm Meninx Holding, Anava Seed Fund (the fund behind Flat6Labs Tunis), and Jasminum Capital. Some angel investors including Dali Kilani, Béchir Tourki, and Houssem Aoudi also participated in the round. The startup’s latest funding brings its total raised to 8.85 million.
