Think Global, Build Locally, tackling the teacher shortage in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Capital
High PriorityGrant funding
Accelerate the active Mali deployment (10 pods, 100 children, 5 facilitators).
iNERDE Academy addresses the acute teacher shortage in Sub-Saharan Africa, ~2.5M new teachers are needed each year against ~300K trained. Its "Teacher Multiplier" model pairs vetted community facilitators with an in-class and at-home AI tutor ("Sira") and a locally-grounded curriculum with auto-tracked assessments. It runs offline-first (2G/EDGE) and is designed to be self-sustaining. Affiliated with the Harvard Innovation Labs.
Sub-Saharan Africa faces a structural teacher gap, ~2.5M new teachers needed annually vs ~300K trained (UN & World Bank). Millions of children are excluded from school by geography, conflict and infrastructure, and conventional fixes either drop the human relationship (AI-only) or cannot scale (traditional teachers).
The "Teacher Multiplier" model pairs community-vetted local facilitators with "Sira," an AI co-pilot that supports them in class and tutors children at home, plus a culturally-grounded curriculum with auto-tracked assessments. Facilitators are approved by parent vote, so trust is the background check; the platform runs offline-first on low-bandwidth networks.
Our vision
Reach 1 million STEM-ready alumni by 2034, expanding from a Mali pilot across Mali, then Senegal and Ivory Coast, and ultimately Francophone Africa.
This company isn't currently raising.
Grade advancement
87%
advanced a grade level (Sci-Bono validated)
Attendance
95%
vs 45% public baseline
Pilot length
8 weeks
measurable learning gains
Pilot seats funded
100
results exceeded expectations
Where this company is actively seeking leverage beyond capital.
Capital
High PriorityGrant funding
Accelerate the active Mali deployment (10 pods, 100 children, 5 facilitators).
What this company builds.
Trusted local adults from the community, vetted, certified and tracked.
Vetted-first
An AI co-pilot for the facilitator in class and a personal tutor for children at home.
A culturally-grounded curriculum with pre/post assessments auto-tracked per learner.
Lightweight delivery that works at 2G/EDGE with cached content and SMS fallback.
Why now
~2.5M new teachers needed per year vs ~300K trained
94% mobile connections, 35% internet penetration in-region
Growth metrics and market validation.
200+
Students taught
8
Cohorts (Zithulele)
10 (100 students)
Mali pods enrolling
~60%
Families willing to pay
200-student pilot produced measurable gains in 8 weeks, 87% advancing a grade level.
Active sites in Johannesburg, Zithulele (Eastern Cape), and Bamako (Mali).
Zithulele has delivered 8 cohorts at 95% attendance.
Bamako is enrolling 10 learning pods / 100 students with 5 trained facilitators.
Rakib Ouro-Djobo
COO
Christine Fraser
Advisor — Education & Scaling
Mike Riley
Advisor — Emerging Markets
Public documents are open to anyone. Private documents are shared at the founder’s discretion.
Communities this company is part of.
