Green Shoots

What Green Shoots does

Green Shoots is a South African education technology company, legally Green Shoots Consulting (Pty) Ltd, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Strand, Western Cape. It builds and distributes the Green Shoots Suite — a CAPS-aligned online mathematics platform for grades 3-9 whose core product, Maths Curriculum Online (MCO), delivers weekly curriculum-aligned activities with real-time feedback and standardized assessments. Supporting modules include MCO School Based Assessment (auto-marked formal assessments with item analysis), GS Insights (data dashboards for teachers, school leaders, and officials), GS Teach (teacher professional development), Brain Quests (weekly SBA preparation exercises), Maths Curriculum Navigator (Grade 7 Senior Phase), Quick Quest (mental maths), and Maths@Home (home access). Underlying technology combines curriculum-mapped content delivery with real-time learner analytics and item-level reporting, structured for low-bandwidth school environments in disadvantaged Quintile 1 settings.

The company's business model is primarily subscription-recurring revenue through contracts with provincial education departments and school districts. The flagship commercial relationship is a province-wide deployment with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) covering 500 primary schools, supplemented by district-level engagements (e.g., Metro South Education District), NGO and trust partnerships for aftercare and out-of-school access (Imibala Trust, Blue Jay Trust, The Gathering), individual school registration, and individual learner/parent sign-up. The go-to-market is sales-led with public-sector and institutional procurement as the primary motion, layered with NGO channel partnerships and limited self-serve individual registration.

Growth has been funded by grants from development finance institutions — notably a three-year joint project with Comic Relief and DFID covering 32 schools across two provinces and four districts (2016-2018) — rather than traditional venture capital. The organisation is founder-led (Jo Besford, Founder/Director) with a board and operational team spanning curriculum content, districts/schools integration, program management, data, and communications. External validation includes the 2026 HundrED Global Collection (Top 100 Education Innovations), 2020 HolonIQ Africa EdTech 50, 2016 Reimagine Education Silver Medal in Hybrid Learning, WISE Accelerator selection (only African-based organisation in 2015-16), and ongoing participation in eLearning Africa, WISE, and Reimagine forums. An independent evaluation by Prof D.B. le Roux across 487 Western Cape schools found a strong positive association between MCO usage and Grade 6 WCED Systemics outcomes, with the strongest impact in Quintile 1 schools.

Name

Green Shoots

Legal name

Green Shoots Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://greenshootsedu.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Green Shoots is a South African EdTech company that delivers the CAPS-aligned Maths Curriculum Online (MCO) suite for grades 3-9, providing weekly curriculum-mapped activities, auto-marked assessments, and data dashboards to public primary schools, provincial education departments (notably WCED across 500 schools), teachers, and NGO partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Mathematics Education Technology

NAICS

Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAJAMAG

Math & STEM Learning Technology (incl. Coding/Robotics Platforms)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Educational Technology Solutions

SECONDARYEDAJAMAD

Curriculum, Lesson Planning & Instructional Content Platforms

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Educational Technology Solutions

SECONDARYEDAJAMAC

Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Educational Technology Solutions

Keywords

• Mathematics education platform
• Online learning software
• Curriculum-aligned assessment
• Education data analytics
• Teacher professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government/Institutional Contracts: Green Shoots generates revenue through contracts with provincial education departments and school districts, implementing MCO programmes at scale across government schools.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Green Shoots operates an online mathematics education platform (the Green Shoots Suite, branded as the Integrated Maths Programme) mapped to the South African CAPS curriculum for grades 3 to 9. The platform delivers weekly curriculum-aligned activities, real-time feedback, auto-marked standardized assessments, and interactive learner analytics dashboards for teachers, schools, and district officials. Supplementary components include teacher professional development (GS Teach), school-based assessments, mental maths practice, and a Maths Curriculum Navigator for Grade 7 learners.

Product overview

Green Shoots offers the Green Shoots Suite, a comprehensive education technology platform composed of multiple integrated modules. The core offering is Maths Curriculum Online (MCO), an online mathematics programme mapped to the South African CAPS curriculum for grades 3-9, which provides weekly curriculum-aligned activities with real-time feedback. This core platform is supplemented by several add-on modules: MCO School Based Assessment (for formal assessments with auto-marked feedback), GS Teach (teacher professional development), GS Insights (data visualization dashboards), Maths Curriculum Navigator (for Grade 7 learners), Quick Quest (mental maths practice), and Brain Quests (weekly practice exercises). The suite also includes MathsQuest and Maths@Home components, all designed to work together within the Green Shoots ecosystem to support Maths education across South African schools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Integrated Maths Programme (IMP): The core programme featuring Maths Curriculum Online (MCO) focused on mathematics education for grades 3-9.
• Maths Curriculum Online (MCO)
• Maths@Home
• MathsQuest
• GS Teach
• GS Insights
• Quick Quest

Products and services

• Integrated Maths Programme (Green Shoots Suite / Maths Curriculum Online - MCO)

Quantifiable outcome

• For every additional 13.5 Brain Quests completed per learner, a school's Systemics Average increased by just over 5% and its Pass Rate increased by 9.7%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Two-a-Day (Grabouw)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwo-a-Day, an agricultural company in Grabouw, partnered with Green Shoots to support schools in their community. The company invested at an early stage in learners' development to enhance their chances of pursuing future careers.
• Imibala TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Imibala Trust is a registered South African NPO providing support to children affected by impoverished circumstances. Their Learner Advancement Department offers MCO access for grades 3-7 and Maths Curriculum Navigator for Grade 7 learners.
• Blue Jay TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Blue Jay Trust provides educational aftercare centres for children whose parents work on farms. They provide access to MCO and Quick Quest programmes at farm-based media centres.
• The Gathering Homework ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Gathering Homework Club provides after school support to learners in Firgrove suburb, using MCO to support the National school based curriculum with real-time feedback for facilitators.
• Western Cape Education Department (WCED)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWCED implemented a province-wide MCO programme to 500 primary schools to improve Maths education. This is the largest institutional implementation of Green Shoots' programmes.
• Metro South Education DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganised a 'Data Informed Decisions' School Management Conference in partnership with Green Shoots, attended by over 100 schools. Schools showcased how their use of real-time learner outcome analytics is transforming Maths learning support.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Matific: K-6 mathematics learning platform with significant South African and broader African deployments. Direct peer on subject (math), grade band and CAPS-aligned approach, with similar school and district sales motion.
• Paper Video: South African platform offering video-based math tutoring and practice. Comparable to Green Shoots as a domestic math-learning specialist serving schools and learners, with overlap on grade-level coverage and government/school distribution.
• Snapplify: South African digital content distribution and EdTech platform serving schools across Africa. Comparable as a domestic K-12 EdTech player with school-facing distribution and content catalogue economics similar to Green Shoots' suite model.
• Siyavula: South African EdTech focused on Mathematics and Science aligned to the CAPS curriculum for grades 4-12. Closest peer to Green Shoots: same geography, same subject mix, same curriculum standard, with a similar blended content-plus-data approach.

Emerging players

• Prodigy Education: Gamified K-8 math platform with freemium consumer base and school/district editions. Comparable on subject (math), grade band, and use of learner data to drive engagement, though its primary go-to-market is consumer-led vs. Green Shoots' government-led motion.

Broad incumbents

• ST Math (MIND Research): Visual, game-based K-8 math platform sold to school districts. Comparable on subject focus (math), grade band (K-8, overlapping Green Shoots' grades 3-9), and district-wide licensing model with embedded analytics.
• Khan Academy: Global free math (and broader) learning platform with translated/localised content used in many African countries. Comparable in K-12 math content delivery, learner analytics and free-access model that competes with paid offerings like Green Shoots'.
• DreamBox Learning: Adaptive K-8 math platform from Discovery Education serving school districts primarily in North America. Comparable on the adaptive-math, real-time-data dashboard and school-license business model that underpins Green Shoots' GS Insights layer.

Regional players

• Ubongo: Tanzania-headquartered Edutainment company producing localised math and literacy content distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa via broadcast and digital channels. Comparable in serving African primary classrooms with curriculum-aligned math content and government/scale partnerships.
• Eneza Education: Pan-African mobile learning platform delivering SMS/USSD and app-based lessons and assessments. Comparable as an Africa-region EdTech serving low-bandwidth school environments with content, assessment and analytics aligned to national curricula.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/greenshootsedu
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@GreenShootsEducation
• Facebookfacebook.com/GreenShootsEducationServices
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/green-shoots-education-services
• Instagraminstagram.com/greenshootsedu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

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 Green Shoots