How to go about building an EdTech company in Africa | Krista Davidson | Injini

If you’re excited about things like ECD startup opportunities and using AI in SA schools etc., then this week’s podcast is for you. We sat down with Krista Davidson, Executive Director of Injini, Africa’s first specialised African EdTech accelerator and Think Tank. And with over 7 years of supporting thousands of African tech innovators in education, she has some remarkable insights into what it takes to succeed in this space.

Catch the highlights

1. The biggest opportunities lie in educator support

As Krista mentions here, tech is perfectly positioned to help lessen the burden on the teacher, so that they can spend more one-on-one time with learners, understand where there are gaps in a child’s understanding and have the time and ability to help them catch up.

An important point, since EdTech in South Africa is a very promising but tough space. Our ICT regulation hasn’t been properly updated since 2014, sales cycles to government (probably your biggest client) are lengthy and getting funding is competitive, so you want to be sure you’re building to solve the right problems.

2. SA startups are doing amazing things in this space

You might remember our recent podcast on AI in EdTech with Mindjoy, well Krista mentions here some exciting things are coming out of SA already. Trackosaurus, for example, uses gamification to track developmental milestones. Grow ECD and Play Sense, whom we’ve mentioned before, are working to help formalise the ECD sector by upskilling creche owners etc.

Digify Africa is another interesting one, using WhatsApp as a delivery model for skills development.

3. Evidence-based building is paramount

A key problem in Africa is our lack of openly available and transparent research. As Krista says here, when Injini started there was so little actual African information available, that they had to evolve into a think tank to generate some real data.

It’s key to build, especially something as fundamental as educational products, on actual data – i.e. knowing how people learn. So probably worthwhile connecting with people like Krista if you’re looking into this space.

You can also grab the Spotify and Apple Podcast links on our website here.

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