Thursday 15 April – from 13:00 to 15:00 CET – the Creative Business Network and Marble hosted a webinar and pitching session with startups and investors.
Iuliia Shnai, founder of Marble, introduced a panel discussion with experts and entrepreneurs that are working to innovate education in Africa: Petra Dillmann from the Autism Association of Namibia, Divine Kpe from Africa Education Watch, Victoria Joel, entrepreneur and special need teacher, Nisha Ligon from Ubongo, Titus Ngatia from FEWA – Future of Education and Work in Africa and Neil O’Toole from Teach Millions.
During the second half of the event, an investor panel (Alberto Corti | Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship – Sweden, Amit Gupta | NCR Eduservices – India, Antti Korhonen | xEdu – Finland, Enrico Poli | Zanichelli Venture – Italy, Safa Sharif | MASY Holding – Bahrain) assessed the following 5 Play & Learn startups and companies from Africa pitching their projects on edtech, gamification and learning through play:
- Blessing Mbamah Babilah, Flip AR (Ghana)
- Sriram Bharatam, Kuza.One (Kenya)
- Chris Czerwonka, Mosabi (Sierra Leone)
- Maged Farrag, 5dVR (Egypt)
- Corrin Varady, IDEA Digital Education (South Africa)
This pitching competition was won by Shriram Bharatam with Kuza.One (Kenya) and follows the CBN Play & Learn challenges we hosted on 10.11.2020, won by Sari Hurme-Mehtälä with Kide Science (Finland), on 30.11.2020, won by Sara Božanić with Twisted Tales (Slovenia), on 28.01.2021, won by Ilias Vartholomaios with Owiwi (Greece) and on 25.01.2021, won ex aequo by Kelly Lilles with Alpa Kids (Estonia) and by Marie Jacobsen Lauvås with Capeesh (Norway).
You’re welcome to join thisis.cbnet.com to signup for the event and to find keynote speeches, highlights and web resources on Play & Learn.
Did you found a Play & Learn startup?
CBN frequently hosts pitching sessions and events. Startups from the Play & Learn field developing artificial intelligence, augmented reality, edtech, gaming, learning through play, virtual reality solutions are welcome to join the community and apply for the next pitching sessions here on F6S.
More about the speakers
Petra Dillmann is founder member and director of the Autism Association of Namibia. Mother of two adult sons, one with Autism. Involved in the NGO disability sector in Namibia since 1995. Member of various Autism Organisations. Recipient of the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship award. Autism knowledge gained through reading, researching and attending workshops/seminars on child development, intervention programmes, Gestalt play therapy, TEACCH, START, AAC, FC, Sensory Integration, etc. Sharing knowledge with parents, teachers and professionals, and up-skilling through Autism workshops and advocacy. Doing functional assessments for Autism and related conditions; develop best practice resource materials; networking with Autistics and relevant stakeholders.
Victoria Joel is a social entrepreneur that believes that every child is differently able and should be given the opportunity to education in the different ability. She is a passionate special needs teacher by profession, trained by SES Expert from Germany, an advocate and Expert for children with Autism, student psychologist, full-time entrepreneur. In 2019 Victoria established the only school that enrolls children with Autism in the northern part of Namibia, Circle of Hope Private Academy (COHA) a private mainstream school based on inclusive education. The school primary section and is based in Ongwediva Elcin Elcin and Basic Prevocational in Onatsi Ondangwa.
Divine Kpe is a multi-award winning Education Specialist, Research Fellow at Africa Education Watch and EdTech Enthusiast. He has over the years contributed to educational quality in Ghana through innovative teaching, policy analysis and advocacy. He initiated and led some projects toward the development of rural education in Ghana. Currently, he serves as a HundrED Ambassador and has been a Speaker/Panelist at high profile events such as UNESCO’s Feature Season for 2020 World Teachers Day celebration, and the 2020 Global Peace Summit by the Global Peace Institute.
Nisha Ligon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ubongo, a Pan-African social enterprise that creates edutainment for kids in Africa. Over 17 million kids across the continent learn with Ubongo’s educational cartoons, radio and mobile programs, in 9 languages. Nisha is a social entrepreneur with a background in media and science, and a passion for education. Before Co-Founding Ubongo, she was a media producer who created content for the BBC, the Guardian, online learning platforms and award winning documentaries. She was part of the team who designed and launched Fuse School, and has also contributed to numerous elearning initiatives across Africa. She studied at Yale University, University of Dar es Salaam, and Imperial College London, specializing in science media production.
Titus Ngatia is a Kenyan entrepreneur and advisor on Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Education. He is the Founder and C.E.O of Effortless Insight Africa, an organization that is transforming Africa through Education consultancy and training on Emotional Intelligence. He is also the Convener of the Future of Education & Work in Africa (FEWA 2021). In Kenya, his contributions to the Education sector includes having served in the National Steering Committee on Curriculum Reforms appointed by Kenya’s Education Cabinet Secretary from 2016 to 2019. He is a prolific tech enthusiast keen on positively disrupting the African Education Ecosystem through Education Technology (EdTech) innovation, EQ and Paradigm Shift in Education.
Neil O’Toole is an expert in market, problem & solution research connecting customer problems with Nordic edtech solutions. He gained a lot of experience in learning design for edtech impact & scalability as well as in edtech incubation & acceleration for startups & ecosystems. He has also been a teacher trainer and school visitor for the IB across Europe, Middle East and Africa for 5 years. He has recently published the white paper “The potential impact of Teach Millions in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Iuliia Shnai is the CEO & Founder of Marble and a PhD in Education Technology (Flipped Classroom) LUT University, Finland. Marble is the interactive learning platform which helps to create stylish online academies and schools with simple training builder. Iuliia has experience in managing Erasmus+ projects in digital education – CEPHEI (www.cephei.eu) learning platform and community for industrial innovation.
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