e& capital, the tech investment arm of e&, has led a $10m pre-series C round in almentor, an online video learning platform in Arabic.

e& capital joins existing investors Partech, Sawari Ventures, Egypt Ventures, Sango Capital and Endure Capital. 

The proceeds will be used to accelerate almentor’s growth towards its goal of serving ten million learners in the MENA region.

Eddy Farhat, Vice President at e& capital, said: “We believe education is at an inflection point in how it is delivered and consumed. Our investment in almentor aims to capitalize on this economic opportunity while driving tangible educational impact in our fast-growing region. We believe that almentor's personalised learning experiences and high-quality Arabic content will be instrumental in achieving this goal.”

“We are impressed with the experience of the founding team and the fresh perspective that the new senior hires bring onboard, and we will collaborate with them to support their vision and help them realize their aspirations." 

almentor targets a market of more than 400 million Arabic speakers with underserved educational needs.

The MENA region’s population is growing at a faster pace than the populations of developed markets, however the region remains lagging in its spending and investment in education. It suffers from a high ratio of students to teachers – 16.5 in the UAE, 19.6 in KSA, and 24.2 in Egypt, relative to 15.1 in the US and in the UK. almentor bridges the gap by providing affordable education and improving learners’ access to the employment market.

Since 2016, almentor has worked with more than 950 mentors to create over 1,000 online courses for individuals, corporations, and government entities. The start-up recently launched its monthly & annual subscription plans where learners get unlimited access to a library of over 700 courses on topics as diverse as health, humanities, technology, entrepreneurship, business management, lifestyle, drama, sports, corporate communication, and digital media.

Dr. Ihab Fikry, co-founder and CEO of Almentor, and Mr. Ibrahim Kamel, co-founder and COO, mentioned that “Empowering ten million learners is a key milestone in almentor’s broader vision of creating hope and development opportunities for the people in MENA. We are very proud and excited to partner with an institution such as e& to create further impact in almentor’s journey.”

Awad Capital, a DFSA regulated company, acted as financial advisor to the company on its capital raising. 

Ziad Awad, CEO of Awad Capital, said: “We are proud to be supporting Almentor in its mission of bringing affordable quality education to all”.