What Edventures does

Edventures is the venture capital arm of Nahdet Misr Group, an Egyptian media and publishing conglomerate, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. The firm invests in early-stage EdTech startups across Africa, with a primary operational focus on Egypt. Its flagship initiative is the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, run in partnership with Mastercard Foundation's Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning, which has supported 36 startups across three cohorts since inception. The third Egypt cohort, comprising 13 startups, was selected in June 2026.

Edventures does not develop products; it functions as an investment and incubation vehicle. Selected portfolio companies receive business support, financial support, training linked to learning science, and introductions to innovation hubs across Africa. The portfolio spans diverse use cases including medical education, early childhood learning, healthcare education, enterprise software skills, women's upskilling, disability inclusion, employability, social-emotional learning, AI-powered early childhood learning, VR/AR educational experiences, and accessibility solutions for persons with disabilities. Leadership comprises Dalia Ibrahim (Founder & CEO), Heba Abdelfattah (Program Manager), and Maged Harby (General Manager).

The firm's business model is impact-oriented rather than revenue-driven. Capital is sourced primarily from Nahdet Misr Group and the Mastercard Foundation partnership, with no disclosed management fees, carry economics, AUM, or exit realizations in the available data. Edventures operates against a cited $57 billion potential African EdTech investment opportunity and projected African education spending of $740 billion by 2030, framing a large addressable market but one in which the firm currently captures value primarily through programmatic support and equity exposure to early-stage startups.

Name

Edventures

Website

https://nmedventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Edventures is the venture capital arm of Nahdet Misr Group, investing in early-stage African EdTech startups via the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship. The Cairo-based firm has supported 36 startups across three cohorts since inception, with no product revenue of its own.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital - EdTech Investment

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Learning, EdTech Enablement & Connectivity for Education (BPADAKAH)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Edtech startup funding
• Startup incubation programs
• Education technology investment
• Early-stage fellowships

Headquarters

HQ city

Gîza

HQ country

Egypt

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Edventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Nahdet Misr Group that invests in and incubates early-stage EdTech startups across Africa. The firm primarily operates the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, which provides selected startups with business support, financial investment, training grounded in learning science, and connections to innovation hubs across Africa. Across three cohorts, the program has supported 36 startups operating in areas such as medical education, early childhood learning, healthcare education, women's upskilling, disability inclusion, and social-emotional learning.

Product overview

EdVentures is the venture capital arm of Nahdet Misr Group, focused on investing in African ed-tech startups. The firm operates the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship program, which provides selected startups with business support, financial support, training linked to learning science, and connections to innovation hubs across Africa. EdVentures is not a product company; it functions as an investment and incubation vehicle supporting early-stage education technology companies across three cohorts totaling 36 startups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Mastercard Foundation's Centre for Innovative Teaching and LearningcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides learning science expertise and insights to EdVentures' portfolio companies through the EdTech Fellowship program, helping startups develop educationally grounded products and services.
• Nahdet Misr GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdVentures is the venture capital arm of Nahdet Misr Group, a major publishing and education group in Egypt. This parent relationship provides EdVentures with deep sector expertise, industry networks, and institutional credibility in the education space.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• 500 Global (500 Startups): Global early-stage accelerator and VC with active MENA programs. Comparable for its cohort-based seed acceleration model and emerging-market portfolio construction.
• Omidyar Network: Global impact investment firm with significant African EdTech and education equity exposure. Comparable for its mission-aligned, equity-stage investing in African education ventures, though broader in scope.

Direct peers

• Partech Africa: Dedicated Africa-focused early-to-growth-stage VC fund. Comparable for its Africa-only mandate, early-stage portfolio construction, and active EdTech exposure across the continent.
• Algebra Ventures: Egypt-based early-stage venture capital firm investing across technology and tech-enabled sectors. Directly comparable as a fellow Cairo-based early-stage VC operating in the same geography and stage.
• Flat6Labs: Leading MENA seed-stage accelerator and early-stage investor headquartered in Cairo. Comparable as a fellow Egypt-rooted seed/early-stage vehicle providing capital plus structured support to startup cohorts.
• Sawari Ventures: Egyptian VC firm managing the Egypt Ventures fund and backing early-stage Egyptian and North African startups. Comparable for its Egypt-based early-stage investing mandate and similar portfolio company profile.
• Injini EdTech Accelerator: Africa-focused EdTech-specific accelerator and investor. Closest direct comparable given its explicit EdTech-only mandate, cohort-based support model, and African geographic focus.
• Co-creation Hub (CcHUB): Pan-African innovation hub and investor with active EdTech programs across Nigeria and East Africa. Comparable for its early-stage Africa investing with sector-specific programs and learning-science-aligned support.
• TLcom Capital: Africa-focused early-to-growth-stage venture capital firm. Comparable as a peer Africa-focused VC with similar stage mandate and exposure to early-stage African tech-enabled startups.

Emerging players

• Acumen: Global impact investor with active education and workforce portfolios across Africa. Comparable for its impact-first mandate supporting African EdTech and skills startups through patient capital and learning-design expertise.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments33 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Edventures