Education

We are closing the education gap in East Africa by improving access to quality learning for low-income communities.

East Africa

Our global impact in education

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lives impacted by our education investees

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deployed across four regions

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companies supported since 2012

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years of investing in the sector

Access to quality learning changes lives.

Quality education opens up pathways out of poverty but so often low-income families lack high-quality, affordable options, which leads to high dropout and youth unemployment rates.

Acumen made its first education investment in 2012 in Hippocampus, an Indian company that trained women to become early childhood educators in rural areas. We’ve since found success in sector enablers, such as school management software and school finance.

With the experience we’ve gained from over a decade of investing across four regions, we’ve learned that education needs to be tackled holistically. It is not enough to focus only on students, or teachers, or testing. It takes a mix of public and private sector solutions and more radical collaboration.

This is why in East Africa we have applied a holistic systems lens to our education investment work. We invest across an ecosystem that includes students, parents, teachers, and schools for more effective outcomes.

East Africa Education Facility

In East Africa, many poor families struggle to afford the cost of education. We invest in education startups that have the greatest impact on education qualityand access for low-income students.

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Meet our education investees

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Kashf School Sarmaya

Offering financial services to low-cost private schools to improve the quality of education

Nasra Public School

Creating access to affordable, high-quality private education for low-income families in Pakistan

Learner's Guild

A technology training program that removes traditional barriers and makes a software developer career available to all

Vikalp

Improving learning outcomes in India’s low-income schools through an experiential math curriculum

Ignis Careers

A holistic English-language curriculum for low-income students and ongoing teacher support

EduBridge

Training youth from India’s rural areas and matching them with entry-level jobs in the formal sector

Akili Network

Kenya's first and only dedicated free-to-air children’s learning TV channel

Ed Partners

Providing loans to low-fee private schools to improve infrastructure and services

Zeraki Analytics

Using technology to help schools grade, analyze performance, and generate reports

Silabu

Improving the quality of education and promoting an inclusive teaching economy

Kurasa

Reducing administrative burdens for teachers, parents, and administrators

Coschool

A for-profit social enterprise focused on creating and implementing experiential learning programs

Report

Kenya Education Market Research Summary

Entrepreneurs and investors need reliable, clear market insights to inform decision-making. However, there is a lack of this data in Kenya. To address this need, Acumen led a process to gather market-oriented insights on the desires, motivations, perceptions, and willingness to pay for key education stakeholders.

Read the report

More about Acumen

Where we work

A global presence with local expertise. Explore our work across five key sectors and nine regions.

Problems we solve

We’re tackling problems of poverty in agriculture, education, energy, healthcare, and workforce.