Co-creation HUB (CcHUB), Nigeria’s premier technology innovation center, in strategic partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has announced the selection of 12 early-stage startups for the fourth cohort of the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship. The 18-month accelerator initiative is designed to scale technology-enabled learning solutions across Nigeria.
As part of the fellowship, each selected startup will receive up to $100,000 in equity-free funding, bringing the cohort’s total non-dilutive capital commitment to $1.2 million. In addition to direct capital, founders will receive technical support spanning product development, go-to-market execution, media readiness, and stakeholder engagement infrastructure.
Targeted Impact & Cohort Composition
Unlike previous iterations, Cohort 4 prioritizes early-stage solutions built specifically for underserved and vulnerable demographics, including learners with disabilities, internally displaced persons (IDPs), girls and young women, and rural populations, alongside data infrastructure for workforce planning.
The 12 selected startups are organized across four strategic pillars:
| Strategic Pillar | Selected Startups | Core Solution Objective |
| Assistive & Special Needs Education | TrainDTrainer Ltd, Talktu, DAWN AI STUDY, Efiwe | Leveraging accessible technology and AI to eliminate barriers for learners with physical or cognitive disabilities. |
| Underserved & Displacement Access | Ileemore Technologies, Skillup Africa, Lena | Expanding localized, low-bandwidth education tools to rural communities and IDP camps. |
| Gender & Female Empowerment | Heels and Tech, NursePadi, Skilladder AI, Lalitah | Enhancing technical skills development and economic mobility for girls and young women. |
| Education & Workforce Data Systems | Ribara Analytica | Building data analytics infrastructure to align curriculum planning with job market demand. |
Pan-African Track Record
First launched in 2019, the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship continues to serve as a key catalyst for Africa’s digital learning landscape:
- Regional Scale: Supported 72 EdTech companies across multiple African markets to date.
- Learner Reach: Reached over 700,000 new learners, with 89% representing youth and children in underserved communities.
- Incubation Model: Combines non-dilutive grant funding with rigorous evidence-gathering frameworks to prove learning outcomes alongside business model sustainability.
Leadership Statements
Cohort 4 was designed around the belief that the most important decisions about inclusion are made at the earliest stages of innovation. This cohort represents founders who are building with this understanding at the core of their solutions. Our role is to help them test, refine, and generate evidence for their solutions while building sustainable businesses that can scale their impact.
— Nissi Madu, Managing Partner at CcHUB
At its best, EdTech does not just digitize education; it redistributes opportunity, and that’s where the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship comes in. The Fellowship sits at the intersection of three powerful forces—education system transformation, inclusive technology-enabled solutions, and sustainability of Africa’s EdTech entrepreneurship.
— Wariko Waita, Director of the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) at the Mastercard Foundation
