UK-based educational publisher Pearson has expanded its Africa and Asia-focused fund by $50m to support startups improving low-cost private education, the Financial Times has reported.
The Affordable Learning Fund was first established in 2012 with $15m of capital, and has since supported schools and educational material providers in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, India and the Philippines.
In 2013, Pearson partnered with accelerator Village Capital to create the Edupreneurs incubator. It welcomed the first cohort in India in 2013, and the second cohort in South Africa in 2014.
Edupreneurs selects 15 startups, all of which receive business model advice and mentoring. Two winning startups are then given $75,000 in seed funding each.
Pearson hopes to generate better results with lower costs, with the long-term aim of convincing governments to contract out education, and expects to have fully invested the extra $50m within the next four years.
Apart from taking minority stakes and expecting a financial return, Pearson also wants to gain understanding of how the startups’ approaches could improve its own business. It has not ruled out acquiring any of the startups it is backing.