Saudi edtech start-up YaSchools, which entered the Shariah compliant microfinancing space this year, has raised US$600,000 in seed funding from angel investors to shore up its growth strategy including expanding into Jordan.
“The company’s future expansion plan also includes the Middle East, North Africa and Turkiye (MENAT) region. The way we work to expedite that is by providing a package of localized services that meet the needs of parents in each country who may find it hard to find the best educational solutions for their children,” explained Yasser Nasr-Aldin, the chief strategy officer and head of investment at YaSchools.
The start-up is currently gearing up to launch in Jordan, which is expected to commence within “a few weeks”.
Founded in 2021 in Saudi Arabia by Yasser, Mohamed Zohair and Ahmed Mahdy, YaSchools specializes in educational management solutions, acting as a facilitator between stakeholders involved in the educational process such as schools, teachers and students.
Earlier this year, the platform launched its microlending services which provide parents with payment plans to cover all educational expenses. This includes a Shariah compliant line of credit allowing users to make payments in instalments of up to 12 months.
The start-up has collaborated with Islamic financial institutions including Alinma Bank, Wataniya Finance, Al Yusr Financing and Leasing Company Finance and buy-now-pay-later platform Tabby to offer the Islamic financing service.
YaSchools has received over US$40 million in financing requests since it began its microfinancing service.
“Our goal is to make the education journey a hassle-free experience and lessen the financial burden on the parents; therefore, we are planning to add more services and products to our system,” shared CEO Mohamed.
YaSchools is targeting the MENAT market of approximately 56 million students at 270,000 schools generating US$110 billion. The start-up’s current portfolio includes 1,750 registered schools, 2,500 teachers and over 92,000 parents.