Disrupt Africa | Cameroonian startup Prepdia, which is helping learners improve their outcomes by reliably connecting them with professional tutors for in-person and online lessons, has expanded to Gabon after seeing impressive growth in its home market.
Founded in 2019, Prepdia helps users quickly and efficiently connect with a vetted, reliable tutor in their local area. So far it has assisted more than 1,200 learners with more than 400 tutors across the country, and sold more than 75,000 hours of lessons.
It has also begun its expansion into the rest of Francophone Africa, starting in Gabon, where it already has more than 50 tutors registered. Bootstrapped thus far, the startup is considering raising funds in the near future in order to help it achieve its expansion goals in the region.
“It has been really amazing to see how we took an idea to this level with this type of impact, with no funding yet. I believe that we are well positioned to help thousands of Africans gain access to quality educational assistance with the right partnerships,” said founder Malieh Maxime, who started the company based on his own personal experiences after leaving school in 2015.
“I aspired to be an engineer but my parents told me they couldn’t afford it. I told my parents I would be able to take care of myself by tutoring others. I passed the engineering entrance exam and moved to Douala, but couldn’t find a home class to teach in the first year,” he said.
“The next year, my friend introduced me to a parent who needed a tutor. I was amazed at the joy and happiness the parent expressed in finding a tutor. That’s when I realised that while many passionate youths are looking for home classes to teach, parents are also finding difficulties in locating tutors.”
Yet there was no platform in existence putting these two types of people together.
“Learners and parents of these learners do not go online looking for tutors. It is not yet the case in Cameroon,” Maxime said.
“It is tough for learners and parents to find and connect with tutors. It even becomes more difficult if quality is a concern to the learner or parent. They have been dying for a hassle-free method to connect, learn and pay professional tutors. Tutors on the other hand are dying to share their knowledge and skills while making income in the process.”
Prepdia aims to solve these problems, and after a good start in Cameroon it has now embarked upon its regional expansion.