Saudi Arabia-based edtech YaSchools platform announced it closed a $600,000 Seed round from a group of angel investors, according to media reports.

The startup will use the funding for expansion goal in the the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region, starting with Jordan.

The platform’s aim is to improve the education experience through a number of innovative services. The service prioritize facilitating microlending solutions in order to provide parents with payment plans to cover all the educational expenses.

Founded in 2021 by Mohamed Zohair, Ahmed Mahdy, and Yasser Nasr-Aldin, YaSchools specialises in educational management solutions offering a platform to connect all members of the educational community. The platform utilies data technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and financial technologies that can asses in processing tasks in an autonomous and fast-paced manner.

Additionally, it provides embedded finance solutions in collaboration with financing partners to provide alternative financing solutions to parents including microlending and buy now pay later (BNPL) services.

YaSchools has 1,750 schools registered on its platform, serving 2,500 teachers and more than 92,000 parents.

Since the launch of its micro-lending services in early 2023, YaSchools has received financing requests worth more than $40 million. This further positions YaSchools as a strong partner to the financing entities that it works with, those that are already interested in investing in the educational sector.

Mohamed Zohair, co-founder and CEO of YaSchools, said that the closure of the seed round confirms the confidence of the investors in the platform and the effective role it plays in bridging the gap within the education system. 

“Our goal is to make the education journey a hassle-free experience and lessen the financial burden on the parents; therefore, we are planning to add more services and products to our system,” Zohair added.

Co-founder and the chief strategy officer and head of investment at YaSchools, Yasser Nasr-Aldin, confirmed that the fresh funding will be used to shore up the company’s existing and future expansion plans. Currently, the company is gearing up to launch in Jordan. The decision is based on an actionable plan that has been finalised and will be activated within a few weeks.

Nasr-Aldin added: “The company’s future expansion plan also includes the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT) region. The way we work to expedite that is by providing a package of localized services that meet the needs of parents in each country who may find it hard to find the best educational solutions for their children.”

It is worth noting that the MENAT target market size of YaSchools is around 56 million students at 270,000 schools generating $110 billion.

YaSchools also provides an Islamic-compliant line of credit that allows users to pay educational expenses in installments of up to 12 months, in cooperation with many notable financial entities such as Tasheel Finance, Alinma Bank, Al Yusr Financing and Leasing Company Finance, Wataniya Finance, Al Amthal Finance, and Tabby, the leading provider of buy now, pay later (BNPL) solutions.