ⓘ Featured image: Geek Express co-founders – Manal Hakim (L) and Rayan Najdi
Lebanon and UAE-based edtech startup, Geek Express has today secured $520,000 in a Pre-Series-A round from National Talents, IM Capital, DHV Partners, with participation from a Lebanese angel investor. The latest round brings a total funding threshold of $860,000 for the company.
The startup will utilise the fresh funds to further develop its platform and secure content partnerships in 2020, before reaching the profitability and growth stage in 2021.
Geek Express was founded in 2017 by Manal Hakim and Rayan Najdi to provide students access to science, technology, engineering, art mathematics (STEAM)-based learning – helping them learn fundamentals of coding, engineering, and digital design early on via camps, live online courses as well as self-paced videos.
The company claims to have over 200 teachers and 1800 active students across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from k-12 segment to high school.
Geek Express has over 1800 active students across the Middle East and North Africa region, ranging from K-12 to high school. It also has a team of more than 13 developers and community managers and over 200 teachers.
Speaking of the development, Hakim, Co-founder & CEO of Geek Express, in a statement said,
“The round is strategic given that National Talents are an edtech partner in Saudi, which helps us penetrate the market and expand our reach. I am really proud to state that we have a 60 per cent-40 per cent female to male ratio between our team and students.”
Geek Express has democratised technology, making it available to all youths independent of age and background. Students at Geek Express have the option of learning how to code, design, build, and create tangible projects that translate into reality. This is how students are able to process the concept and further develop their cognitive skills.
