Raizcorp division partners with high-growth edtech business
During the first quarter of 2019, Partner Elite (a division of leading business incubator Raizcorp) entered into an exciting partnership with Advantage Learn, a high-growth educational technology business. Advantage Learn aims to make a difference in the South African educational landscape by providing school learners with the best high school educators, resources and technology. Allon Raizcorp, CEO of Raizcorp met the Advantage Learn team at an OCFO event sponsored by Investec. Led by a group of dynamic and driven individuals, Advantage Learn provides top-quality content and educational support through a combination of blended and online learning with a special focus on mathematics, science and NBTs (National Benchmarking Tests).
Says Raizcorp CEO Allon Raiz, “Partner Elite backs entrepreneurs and the Advantage Learn team is exceptional. They are a perfect combination of smarts, drive and humility. It was clear from the outset that these entrepreneurs are building a massively successful business. Our role is to unlock the big strategic enablers to help scale the business through our expertise and networks.”
He goes on to say, “It is rare to find a team as strong and driven as the Advantage Learn team, and it’s also rare to find a business that has developed such an incredibly high-quality product.”
Partner Elite’s investment in Advantage Learn also dovetails perfectly into Raizcorp’s Canden division which focuses on operating non-mainstream schools where entrepreneurship is embedded over and above the CAPS curriculum. Additionally, it is a perfect fit with Raizcorp’s impact–profit philosophy towards new business (the company pursues only businesses that have the potential to create genuine impact, and which generate sustainable profit which is reinvested into increasing Raizcorp’s impact).
Advantage Learn’s CEO and cofounder, James Lees remarks, “In early 2017, we realised that if we wanted to walk the next path in our journey – a path of scale and broader impact – we would need to partner with someone who could help us scale our business while also respecting our unique turf and supporting us through the ups and downs. We wanted a partner who would build real value over time, both financially and socially, so not just a typical investor. Our partner had to be committed to growth, value and impact. Through serendipitous circumstances, we found Raizcorp and its Partner Elite offering. We have much work to do to broaden access to high-quality education and we believe that, through this partnership, we are building a solid foundation for sustainable growth and impact into the future.”
The partnership between Advantage Learn and Partner Elite not only supports the current national discourse on the critical importance of STEM subjects at the school level in South Africa, but also has the potential to expand its offering to include high-quality bespoke tertiary education support as well as to grow into an export model.
Learn more about Advantage Learn at www.advantagelearn.com.
