DOB Equity, a Dutch family-backed impact investor in East Africa, has made a further investment in Moringa School, the technology learning institute based in Kenya.

Saskia van der Mast, co-CEO of DOB Equity, said: “Now, more than ever, the education sector needs investment to continue to drive learning and job opportunities for the rapidly growing young population in East Africa.”

“DOB will continue to support innovative companies led by the region’s most promising entrepreneurs at a time when our target communities are most vulnerable.”

The investment is to help Moringa accelerate the company’s transition to providing remote on-line learning.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, there has been an increased demand for online learning.

DOB said that equipping students with the right digital skillset to enter the job market is particularly important considering the increased economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As technology companies globally soar because of an increasingly digital world, the demand for software developers and data scientists is growing quickly.

DOB Equity originally invested in Moringa School in October 2019 to help the business capitalize on the fast-growing demand for technical-skilled professionals.

Moringa provides digital and professional training to students through short and medium-term courses (i.e., software engineering and data science), increasing their employability and access to the labor market.

Moringa’s management team had planned ahead and acted quickly to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak.

Its first priority being the health and safety of students and staff. Moringa’s team worked tirelessly to transition its curriculum to remote learning, starting with its core software engineering and data science programs, enabling it to retain over 80% of its enrolled students.

The company is also seeing growing interest for corporate training contracts as employers invest in training staff during the crisis.

Anne Njuki, Investment Manager of DOB Equity, said: “DOB has been impressed by Moringa’s resilience through the Covid-19 crisis, and its continuing commitment to facilitate learning during this unprecedented disruption, particularly for its vulnerable low-income students. Through this increasingly challenging time for all, we believe that Moringa’s swift transition to remote learning equips the company to weather the current crisis, and positions it well for the future of learning.”

Audrey Cheng, Founder and CEO of Moringa, added: “In this rapidly-changing economic and business environment, Moringa remains focused on preparing our students for the evolving job market.  We are thrilled by DOB’s follow-on investment, and with this continued support, Moringa is poised to adapt to the changing dynamics and emerge undoubtedly stronger.”