AltSchool expands to Europe as it nears profitability

AltSchool Africa, the Nigerian edtech startup that trains Africans with in-demand tech skills, is expanding to Europe as it seeks to diversify its revenue streams and accelerate growth.

The edtech startup will launch its first operations in Malta—after being part of a growth accelerator sponsored by the Malta government—and is hiring across its business and development, marketing, and content production teams. 

AltSchool’s expansion into Europe comes after it launched in Kenya in January 2024. While the startup was launched in 2021 as a virtual platform for people to earn diplomas in engineering, data, and business analytics, it has seen interest in its services grow beyond Nigeria. It now has a presence in the US and Rwanda, where it opened an office at the Norrsken Hub in 2023.

Europe is the startup’s third-largest market, with learners from over 12 European countries, according to AltSchool CEO Adewale Yusuf. The company whose extensive curriculum covers business, data, engineering, media, and the creative economy will offer the same curriculum in Europe alongside AI and data analytics modules. AltSchool will take its first cohort of learners in Malta by 2025. 

Yusuf claims the startup is approaching profitability, and the fresh expansion will aid its revenue growth. 

AltSchool, whose business model in Africa has been primarily focused on online learning, will set up campuses in Malta as it introduces a hybrid approach where learners can have in-person learning sessions with tutors. 

“Because we’re an alternative school, there are some elements of the actual traditional school that work, and we want to take the best of both sides,” said Rachael Onoja, the startup’s head of innovation and market expansion. 

AltSchool will be exploring a B2B model alongside its B2C model in Europe by partnering with organizations to  curate tailored training courses for their employees and assisting them with content development and learning infrastructure. The startup is close to closing one of those deals, according to Onaja. 

“We noticed that in Africa and even some parts of other parts of the world, some companies have been reaching out to us, asking for support for workforce development. So we want to see how we can scale that to offer enterprise licensing to businesses looking to upskill employees,” Onaja told TechCabal.

AltSchool will compete with startups like Bloomtech in Europe. Yusuf claims the startup will differentiate itself through community and personalized learning. The edtech will use the same subscription model for Europe but will charge different price points.

AltSchool has so far supported about 100,000 learners across eight African countries and twelve European countries.

“Right now, we are partnering with local universities on ground, and also partnering with organizations, companies, and even the government to implement some attributes of our implementation plan, because it takes a village.”

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