Founded in 2018 the ed-tech startup aims to democratize access to tech education for African youth by equipping them with the skills to create tech products, become entrepreneurs, or be highly employable.
Kabakoo Academies is building the first sustainability-focused EdTech by merging high-tech and indigenous knowledge to deliver transformative experiences.
Their model of high indigenous tech education fosters localized innovation and successfully equips African youths with the necessary agile skills for leapfrogging into sustainable futures.
In less than three years of operation, Kabakoo’s unique model has been praised by the likes of the African Union, UNESCO, and the World Economic Forum as a major innovation in the global education landscape.
Kabakoo is building the leading pan-African learning platform for digital and decentralized manufacturing skills.
Blending cutting-edge tech with local knowledge, Kabakoo reimagines learning by enabling young Africans with the skills to own the 4th Industrial Revolution.
The Kabakoo Learning Experience is geared towards sustainable value creation through challenge-based and blended learning.
How it Works
No-code training
Kabakoo Academies launched the first no-code training in West Africa in March 2021 with a reported 20 young learners taking part.
The program has been described as intensive FullStack and is being conducted in partnership with contournement, a European company that has conducted no-code training. The training aims to equip young Africans with skills and aptitudes that make them employable.
During the program, the selected participants will be coached by expert coaches and become fully proficient in no-code tools to create websites, mobile apps, automation, and data management projects.
The training aims to master key tools including Zapier, Airtable, Adalo, Glide, or Dorick, all of which will assist learners in rapidly developing various tech products.
Learning
At Kabakoo, collaborative project-based experiences rooted in the realities of learners are the cornerstone of the learning process.
Learners choose the projects they want to work on. This experiential and collaborative approach allows us to make good use of everyone’s passion and thus improves not only the project outcomes but also the individual learning objectives.
The socio-cultural anchoring of the collaborative projects leads the participants to regularly go outside their walls.
This enables the learners to deal with the different fault lines on the ground such as language barriers and territorial segregation and, depending on the projects, to accumulate local indigenous knowledge gathered on the ground.
Kabakoo also means to wonder. Everyone is a wanderer. At Kabakoo, there are no teachers but coaches.
Peer learning is paramount at Kabakoo. Because learning at its best is a social act that must take into account our strengths and differences.
The peers are involved in learning not only through collaboration on different projects but also through new technologies allowing exchanges with remote peers.
Being a learner at Kabakoo is being part of an active community dedicated to a better Africa.
Their learners own their learning experiences. Their curriculum is designed within the framework of lifelong learning so that learners will never stop learning, even after their stay at Kabakoo.
Mentors
A global network of professionals and entrepreneurs act as coaches and experts-facilitators.
They guide and mentor learners, both online and offline. They are a valuable input source to make sure our curriculum is relevant and also for our learners who choose to become entrepreneurs.
The core elements of their learning experience are woven together through the seven habits of Kabakoo. Acquiring these seven habits ensures their learners develop a mindset of growth and lifelong learning.
Founders
Yanick Kemayou
Yanick Kemayou is the CEO of Kabakoo Academies.
Yanick Kemayou studied at the Beijing Institute of Technology, Tongji University, and the National Advanced School of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information & Communication Technologies.
Investors & Funding Rounds
Zoom Cares
Kabakoo Academies has secured the funds from the video conferencing service Zoom via its EdInnovation Award. Kabakoo received the award on 1st March 2021, and the startup is among one of six global winners at the prestigious awards.
Kabakoo’s no-code segment is catalyzed by strong partnerships with, among others, the current leading no-code app Notion, which supports Kabakoo’s activities through its impact program.
Meanwhile, the EdInnovation Award formalizes the partnership between Kabakoo and Zoom, which becomes a key financial and tech partner for scaling up Kabakoo’s impact.
By pioneering no-code training in Africa, Kabakoo becomes a leading player in the pan-African EdTech space. According to its website, the startup claims to have trained more than 530 learners, since its launch in 2018, in future-oriented competencies for digital and decentralized manufacturing through its blended learning model.
Main Competitors
DavtonLearn: This is powering affordable E-learning infrastructure for Nigeria and Africa.
Hologo World: It is growing your ultimate supplementary tool in education for the Metaverse era.
Truwell: This is a comprehensive Wellbeing Platform for Teachers and Students.
Related:
FinAccess: Story, Founders, Investors & Funding Rounds