Nigeria startup, AltSchool says it has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to scale its effort in training people to become junior to mid-level engineers and gain technical skills.
AltSchool stated that the new funding is expected to help advance investment in building its content, curriculum, technology infrastructure and community concept that allows students to meet offline to network and learn together.
AltSchool in partnership with higher institutions has provided a solution as an online school with a curriculum to upskill non-technical people with technical and soft skills to provide diploma certificates.
AltSchool CEO, Adewale Yusuf pointed out that having a BSc is not a requirement to be a software engineer. Participants are only required to have a high school certificate and be computer literate.
“We need to find a shortcut for people, whereby they will be able to make money and provide for their family and add value to the economy. That’s one of the reasons we launched AltSchool because if a lot of people can have marketable skills, then I think we can solve a massive problem in the market."
Yusuf also added that the platform is working towards providing avenues for participants; especially for those who are unable to secure admission into its program, to complete the entire nine-month program.
“We realize that the most important thing is skills. We genuinely want to give people the skills. And we know that not everybody that passed the assessment will make it to the end of school, nor are they better than those who failed. We’ll create a situation where if some can stick to the end of this semester, we’ll find a way for them to complete the programme,” he added.
AltSchool was founded by Adewale Yusuf (chief executive) alongside Akintunde Sultan and Opeyemi Awoyemi and provides courses on product, blockchain and data. The company said it is currently exploring B2B partnerships with private schools in Nigeria and Africa, using AltSchool’s curriculum in their classes, adding that it intends to launch the product modules, including product management, marketing and design, by the second quarter of this year.
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