What Edarabia does

Edarabia is a Dubai-headquartered education directory and content platform that helps students, parents, and job seekers discover, compare, and connect with educational institutions, courses, and employers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and globally. Founded in 2005 by CEO Farid Gasim, the company operates a WordPress-based portal (using a custom "newed" theme) that aggregates directory listings for universities, schools, nurseries, training centers, courses, jobs, tutors, and education-related events across 100+ countries, with particularly deep coverage in the UAE (155+ universities, 587+ schools, 373+ nurseries) and major study-abroad destinations (UK, US, Australia, India, Germany, Japan). The platform also publishes editorial content through its EdTalk articles and YouTube channels, including a ScienceTalks video series, and reaches 70,000+ subscribers via an education newsletter.

The platform's business model is primarily B2B advertising and listings-based: educational institutions, training providers, and employers pay for enhanced directory placement, featured listings, and job postings, while students and parents access the directory free of charge. An "Inquire Now" lead-generation feature on the Courses platform converts user interest into qualified inquiries for course providers. The company runs a self-serve, product-led growth model, monetizing organic SEO traffic driven by high-intent queries such as "schools in UAE" or "universities in Dubai," supported by content marketing, social media, and email channels. There is no mobile app, no public API, and no disclosed AI or machine learning integration in the core product.

Edarabia is a privately held, self-funded small business with 11-50 employees and no disclosed venture capital or external funding rounds. Its revenue is not publicly disclosed, and its corporate ownership and management team beyond the CEO/founder are not detailed in available sources. The operating model is best characterized as a content-and-directory media business with light-monetization B2B advertising rather than a venture-scale technology company.

Name

Edarabia

Legal name

Edarabia

Website

https://edarabia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Edarabia is a Dubai-based education directory platform founded in 2005 that helps students, parents, and job seekers discover and compare universities, schools, nurseries, courses, and tutors across the MENA region and 100+ countries, monetized through paid listings and advertising from educational institutions and employers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Directory Platform

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Live Class & Webinar Marketplaces/Directories (EDAFAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Instructor Marketplaces (Find-a-Teacher / Book-a-Class) (EDAFAIAD), Education Access & EdTech for Equity (Low-cost Learning, Skills Platforms) (BPAGALAH)

Keywords

• Education directory platform
• School search platform
• University listings portal
• Course discovery website
• Education job portal

Headquarters

HQ city

Dubai

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Listings for Educational Institutions: Edarabia monetizes through paid advertising and premium listings from educational institutions (universities, schools, nurseries) seeking visibility among students and parents. Institutions pay for enhanced placement in the directory.
2. Job Listings and Recruitment Services: The platform features job postings from employers in the education sector and beyond, likely monetized through paid job listings and featured employer placements.
3. Course Provider Lead Generation: The 'Inquire Now' feature allows users to contact training providers directly, generating qualified leads for course providers and training centers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Edarabia operates an online education discovery platform and directory that lets students, parents, and job seekers search, compare, and connect with universities, schools, nurseries, courses, tutors, and education-sector employers across the MENA region and globally. The platform aggregates thousands of institutional listings with city-level and curriculum-level filtering, supplemented by an editorial news section (EdTalk), a job board, a course inquiry lead-generation tool, and a newsletter. Revenue is generated through paid listings, advertising, and job postings from educational institutions, training providers, and employers.

Product overview

Edarabia is a comprehensive education guide platform operating as a unified directory and information portal. The core platform encompasses multiple interconnected sub-products: Universities Directory, Schools Directory, Nurseries Directory, Courses & Diplomas Platform, Jobs & Vacancies Portal, Tutors Platform, Events Directory, and EdTalk (education news). These products work together to serve students, parents, and professionals seeking education and career resources across the Middle East, Africa, and globally, with coverage spanning over 100+ countries and a subscriber base of 70,000+ users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Edarabia Education Guide Portal Comprehensive online education directory and guide platform connecting users with universities, schools, nurseries, courses, jobs, and tutors across the Middle East and globally.
• Universities Directory Searchable directory of universities and colleges across multiple countries, allowing users to explore higher-education institutions by country and city.
• Schools Directory Directory of schools offering various curricula (American, British, IB, CBSE, Islamic) across multiple regions with filtering by country and curriculum type.
• Nurseries Directory Directory of nurseries and preschools across multiple countries, organized by location and curriculum type.
• Courses & Diplomas Platform Platform listing professional courses, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at universities and training centers throughout the Middle East, with an integrated "Inquire Now" lead-generation feature.
• Jobs & Vacancies Portal Job portal for employment opportunities in Dubai, UAE, and the broader Middle East region, featuring listings from various industries with salary information.
• Tutors Platform Platform connecting users with qualified tutors across various subjects including Accounting, Art, Business Administration, Computer Science, Languages, and more.
• Events Directory Directory of education-related events in the Middle East region.
• Education Directory Comprehensive directory including after school activities, educational suppliers, language schools, music & performing arts, training centers, recruitment agencies, and student scholarships.
• EdTalk Education news and insights platform featuring articles and interviews with education professionals on topics like human skills, values-driven learning, and digital literacy.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WhichSchoolAdvisor: Direct peer operating school-search directories across MENA (UAE, Saudi, Qatar) and Hong Kong. Both are education discovery platforms targeting parents and students with school and curriculum comparisons in the same Gulf markets Edarabia prioritizes.
• SchoolAdvisor: UAE-based school advisory and directory platform serving expatriate parents choosing curricula and schools. Closely comparable to Edarabia's Schools and Nurseries directories in geography, customer segment (parents), and B2B monetization via institutional partnerships.
• StudyPortals: Global study-abroad directory connecting prospective students with universities and programs worldwide. Comparable as a course and university discovery platform with the same SEO/content-led GTM motion and B2B institution monetization that Edarabia uses for its Universities and Courses verticals.
• GulfTalent: MENA-focused job portal with a strong professional and education-sector presence. Directly comparable to Edarabia's Jobs portal in target market, employer monetization, and candidate user base across the Gulf.
• Hotcourses Abroad: Global course and university search directory helping students find study-abroad options. Directly comparable to Edarabia's Courses & Diplomas and Universities directories in SEO-led discovery, lead generation for institutions, and international student audience.
• Educations.com: International education search platform covering universities, programs, and online courses across many countries. Comparable to Edarabia in content-led SEO, multi-country directory structure, and institution-side lead generation revenue model.
• Naukri Gulf: MENA-focused job portal from InfoEdge serving professionals across the Gulf. Comparable to Edarabia's Jobs portal through shared MENA employer base, paid-listing monetization, and similar candidate user segments (Indian and South Asian professionals, including teachers).

Broad incumbents

• QS (Quacquarelli Symonds): Global higher-education data, rankings, and student-recruitment platform. Comparable as a university-discovery and lead-generation partner for institutions targeting international students, including the same MENA markets Edarabia serves, though at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Bayt.com: Leading MENA jobs and recruitment platform. Comparable through Edarabia's Jobs & Vacancies portal and similar MENA employer base; Bayt.com operates at much larger scale and serves as the primary alternative for education-sector employers posting roles.

Regional players

• Shiksha.com: India's largest education directory covering colleges, courses, and entrance exams. Comparable product and business model (directory + content + lead gen), but primarily India-focused — relevant as a peer for Edarabia's Indian university and school listings and for benchmarking directory SEO scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/edarabia
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_YJ0rdTll9h89Dul8b5fwg?sub_confirmation=1
• Facebookfacebook.com/edarabia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/edarabia-com

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Edarabia