On Thursday, Pakistan-based EdTech startup Out-Class announced that it had raised $500,000 from its seed round. The round was led by the House of Habib, a Pakistani investment firm, with support from other global institutional and angel investors.
Founded in 2021 by a LUMS alumna and two Harvard alumni, Out-Class is a digital platform that provides bite-sized courses for students. The company said that it currently serves over 10,000 students.
“The Out-Class team has the vision to make high-quality content accessible for students through an innovative, world-class platform,” said Hamza Habib, Non-Executive Director at House of Habib.
“Their dedication to improving education is evident in their plans to deploy the new funds to expand their course offerings, invest in improving teacher quality and build new personalization and adaptive features into their platform.”
CEO Out-Class Aiman Bashir stated: “We are committed to offering students the best possible education at an affordable price. Our crash courses help students prepare for high-stakes exams.
Ali Nomani, another co-founder, said that the startup plans to launch more products for the mass market soon. “We are currently focused on K-12 education, but our goal is to meet the educational needs of all Pakistanis between the ages of 5 and 30,” he said.
He added that the Pakistani EdTech startup market is expected to mature in the next three to five years, and has all the necessary conditions to reach its potential.
Pakistan’s startup sector is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, due to the country’s large population, high spending on education, and increasing access to affordable technology.
2021 was a banner year for Pakistan’s startup sector, with 81 deals worth a total of $350 million being secured. This was more than 5 times the amount raised in 2020, which was $65 million.
Despite various challenges, the startup startup sector has continued to gain momentum in 2022. During the first quarter of the year, startups raised a substantial $163 million, according to a Deal Flow Tracker.
