• US-based and Mena-focused edtech Classera, has raised $40 million in a Series A round, led by Sanabil Investments and joined by Global Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, 500 Global, Sukna Venture, and Seedra Ventures, as well as investors from Silicon Valley, and global family offices. 
• Founded in 2011 by Mohammad Alashmawi and Mohammad Almadani, Classera offers an ecosystem that includes a gamified learning management platform based on AI and social learning, as well as payment solutions for these courses.
• The investment will advance Classera’s Learning Super Platform “LSP”, expand into the corporate e-learning segment and accelerate its global expansion into new markets.

Press release:

Classera, a global edtech e-learning company focused on emerging markets, has successfully raised $40 million in a Series A round, the largest in edtech globally for a company with no prior funding. The round also mark’s the largest funding round ever in edtech, in Mena and most of Africa.

The round was led by Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned company by Public Investment Fund (“PIF”), accompanied by Global Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, 500 Global, Sukna Venture, and Seedra Ventures. The round additionally included a diverse set of investors from Silicon Valley, emerging markets, and global family offices. 

Proceeds will be used by Classera to continue developing its Learning Super Platform (“LSP”) for the education and corporate training sectors, and cement its position as a global leader in e-learning and edtech. In addition, the investment will be used to target more growth in Mena, and the rest of Africa, and to accelerate its global expansion, especially into Asia Pacific (APAC) and elsewhere, via direct sales, channel partners, and acquisitions. The proceeds will also help Classera - via its specialised platform for corporate e-training “LeadXera”- to expand faster into that huge sector - which is one of the primary target post this investment.

Classera is the largest edtech company in Mena and most of sub-Saharan Africa, educating millions of learners in over 30 countries. The Company’s LSP is a fully integrated ecosystem that includes a gamified learning management platform based on AI and social learning, an augmented reality learning app “C-Reality”, a full ERP for educational institutions “C-Smarter”, an integrated e-payment gateway ”C-Pay” for pocket money, tuitions payments and financing, and a specialised educational marketplace for edtech and educational supplies products ”Edumalls”. All are under one umbrella to ease the process and boost learning engagement and thus the overall learning experience.

Classera’s thousands of customers include over 10 Ministries of Education, private K-12 schools, universities, and corporates for e-training. It has developed over 100 strategic partnerships with global and regional players including Microsoft, Zoom, Amazon, Intel, Udemy, and HP. Last year, the company launched a co-branded solution alongside HP, under the name “HP-ClassEasy by Classera” which is now offered in several countries globally. 

Mohammad Almadani, CEO and co-founder of Classera, said: “Today is a milestone in the Classera journey. I am honoured to receive the backing of such an esteemed group of global investors and immensely proud of our team whose passion has always been to revolutionise the learning experience. Together, we scaled Classera from limited resources to become a leading global EdTech platform. I am glad that we impacted and empowered the learning journey of millions, I hope our evolving story will serve as an inspiration to others, and we are optimistic that the best is yet to come.”

“The funding will help us take our “LSP” to the next level, making it smarter, inspiring and simpler, and for our clients and partners globally. Many learning institutions, especially after the pandemic, are convinced they need the next generation of e-learning solutions. This is where Classera comes in; as we aim to expand our offerings to more global markets and become the partner of choice for education and training institutions covering all of their needs in a turnkey solution and providing its members with a unique learning experience that enables them to reach their full potential.”

Commenting on the announcement, Sanabil Investments said:

“Classera has developed and successfully deployed a platform that reaches millions of users and has grown to become one of the leading emerging market e-learning solution providers globally. We are fully committed to enabling Classera to further expand its reach to learners across all socio-economic backgrounds.”

Classera delivered one of the highest engagement metrics in the e-learning industry globally in the last academic year. In the journey, the engaging gamified platform enabled the company to secure close to 70% market share in several markets in the region, generating high engagement – leading to over 10 billion page views. Along its path, Classera has also received several global awards in the Edtech industry including Bett, The Learning Award, GESS, Microsoft's best global partner award and many more.