Saudi Arabia’s Noon Academy, an EdTech startup, raised US$ 13M in its second funding round on 21 June 2020. The round was led by Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), based in Riyadh. Total funding stands at US$ 21.6M.

STV had previously co-led the company’s series-A round when it had raised US$ 8.6M in June 2019. Other investors in the round include Alturki Holding and Ahmed El Kalla’s NFX Ventures. The funding target was US$5 million. But the company closed at US$13  million, signalling towards strong investor confidence.

The funds will be utilised to finance its expansion plans, as the startup hopes to expand across the globe. Noon Academy claims that they have added 3 million students during COVID-19 pandemic, almost doubling their user base. They also plan to direct the investment towards opening a hub in London. Their product, design and data science teams will supposedly be based there. Currently, they have offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, India and Pakistan.

“With this investment, we’re aiming to bring together 50 million students and tutors from around the world by 2023,” said Mohammed Aldhalaan, co-founder and chief executive of Noon Academy.

Founders- Mohammed Aldhalaan and Dr. Abdulaziz Alsaeed

Noon Academy was founded in 2013 by Mohammed Aldhalaan and Dr. Abdulaziz Alsaeed as a test preparation website. After 7 years, the startup today has over six million registered users. They are currently providing their services in 7 countries- Saudi Arabia, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt. It has grown into an open learning platform that decentralizes innovation and provides social learning at scale. Currently, it is the largest and fastest-growing global EdTech platform in MENA.

Noon Academy is focused towards direct-to-student learning. As the pandemic isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, the company is prioritizing and enhancing its platform. With schools shut down, the demand for e-learning has risen significantly and Noon Academy is gearing up for the same.

 

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Saudi Arabia’s Noon Academy secures US$ 13M in funding round