Zenda, a UAE-based business aiming to revolutionize the way parents pay school bills and educational institutions manage tuition collection, is turning to Africa as its next growth market.
Zenda (previously nexopay) informed TechCrunch that it wants to join the continent in the coming months through Egypt, its third market after India, as part of a growth strategy fueled by a $9.4 million seed round.
What Zenda App Will Do
Zenda app allows parents to pay fees directly to schools, while also allowing schools to accept and handle payments online, which helps to streamline collections. Because all transactions on Zenda happen in real time, parents no longer need to present bank deposit slips as proof of payment. The company also offers an embedded financing option that allows parents to receive a tuition cost credit with a customizable repayment schedule.
The startup was launched by Raman Thiagarajan and Haseeb Ahmed, both ex-McKinsey & Company employees, in June of last year.
The First Experience
Zenda is based on their first social edtech firm, nexquare, which is a management and data analytics solution for schools, instructors, and regulators, according to Thiagarajan. Thiagarajan, who previously led McKinsey Middle East and North Africa (MENA) financial services practice, told TechCrunch that their first startup helped them understand the education market at a granular level, allowing them to build a fintech solution that solves the challenges parents and schools face when it comes to fee payment and management.
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“Fee payments at schools are primarily manual, and where they are digital, they are difficult, expensive, and manual,” Thiagarajan explained.
“We understand the education sector because of the information we gained from our previous enterprise.” As a result, we now have a parent-facing app… We also integrate thoroughly into educational institutions to reduce friction between parents and schools,” he explained.
STV, COTU Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and VentureSouq were among the investors in the seed round.
“Raman, Haseeb, and the team have found a compelling need in the market and in aiding families on a topic that is very important to them,” said STV managing partner Ihsan Jawad. We couldn’t be more excited about Zenda after seeing their excellent traction over the last few months. The UAE private school fees industry is worth more than $8 billion, and the country is already well positioned to take the lead.”
Zenda Growth So Far
Zenda users have grown 20 times since its introduction, according to Thiagarajan, with the app reaching over $100 million in yearly contracted payment volumes by the end of last year. And the firm expects to see even more growth this year as it expands beyond the UAE with the fresh capital, which will also help it develop its product. “The majority of the cash will go toward market development and customer experience,” Thiagarajan said.
In the long run, Zenda is expected to go beyond school fee payment to include other aspects of personal financial management.
“It is our objective to assist families in thriving.” We want to make it easier for families to manage their finances and achieve financial wellness… We see a need for easy and collaborative family-centric goods.”
