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Nigerian Edtech Startup Klas Announces Raise of $1M Pre-Seed Funding

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Klas, a Nigerian Edtech startup platform that allows anyone to start an online school and deliver live classes, has announced the raise of $1 million in pre-seed funding.

The funding round was led by Ingressive Capital, with participation from Techstars, HoaQ Capital, and several angel investors.

Speaking on its investments in Klas, managing director of Techstars Toronto Sunil Sharma said,

“It has been a rewarding experience to have invested in Klas at the earliest stage of the company based on the core abilities of the co-founders Nathan and Lekan and the vision they set for the company. This confidence was further demonstrated by our follow-on investment in the company, something we like to do when presented with exceptional opportunities.”

Founded in 2022 by Nathan Nwachuku and Lekan Adejumo, Klas enables users to create and sell ebooks, courses, and live classes. The platform offers essential class components such as scheduling, payments, community features, analytics, and video conferencing, catering to various subjects from coding and design to finance, art, and languages.

The platform also enables creators, trainers, and professionals to monetize their knowledge and for anyone to acquire tailored knowledge through courses, live classes, and ebooks.

Today, Klas boasts a user base of over 5,000 online schools (creators), which have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars on the platform and 300,000 learners spanning over 30 countries.

Currently facilitating transactions in naira for Nigerian users and dollars for those outside Nigeria, the edtech startup aims to amplify its international presence, focusing on India, its second-largest market, and North America, where the incumbent players in the industry have the bulk of their customer base.

The move aligns with the startup’s strategy to address currency devaluation concerns, and it includes plans to enhance user experiences through localized currency options in various countries.

Unlike Edtech platforms like Udemy and Skillshare which focus on pre-recorded courses, Klas has set itself apart by enabling users to create, monetize, and host engaging live classes. Klas takes a more all-in-one approach to online teaching while remaining simple and intuitive for everyone.

Creators can accept payments from students globally, manage their classes, offer online tests, and connect their favorite tools from Klas integration store. The Edtech startup aims to power up to 100,000 online schools globally by 2027, while it presently provides a free plan with a 5% transaction fee.

Although positioned as a cost-effective alternative to other platforms like Kajabi and Thinkific (whose prices range between $49-$399), Klas, in a bid to boost its revenues, may become as pricey in the coming months, introducing an enterprise product targeted at upskilling employees in large companies at $199 per month.

The company’s mission is to empower everyone to teach engaging online classes. With over 125,000 students and 2,200 online academics, Klas is on the move to powering the upskilling economy.

Obi Cubana, Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Coscharis, etc Appear on Freemen, a Showmax Documentary on the Igbo Apprenticeship System

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I want to congratulate Showmax, owned by MultiChoice and NBCUniversal, and the whole team members of the Freemen, a new movie on the Igbo Apprenticeship System (IAS). I am also honoured to report that your Ovim village boy was recognized as an academic Nollywooder with references to my work in Harvard Business Review. I just sent a note to my editors in Harvard, and thanked them for their support. Yes, since that publication, the African model of stakeholder capitalism on the entrepreneurial spirit of shared prosperity and the rise of all, has gone mainstream. 

The documentary features prominent Igbo businessmen such as Dr Cosmas Maduka aka Coscharis, Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Okey Japan, Bartholomew Duru Nwanguma alongside his son Peter Nwanguma, and other notable entrepreneurs.” In the Igbo Nation, men build men, not just through the ancestral model of craftsmanship, but through knowledge.

The IAS is a valid and tested developmental framework as no global framework has demonstrated the remarkable economic recovery of Igbos after the civil war, with households (with verified proofs of deposited funds in amount or excess)  starting with 20 Nigerian pounds. In an upcoming work, I explain that no other people in history (including Chinese)  have accomplished what the Igbos did as 20 pounds quickly became mansions, companies, properties, dynamic diasporas, homeland legends, and successes. The 20 pounds, if a pure investment, would have broken all investment returns ever recorded in humanity.

Good People, Showmax will launch this Nigerian Original documentary series, Freemen – a captivating exploration of the Igbo Apprenticeship System, known locally as Igba Boi – on a seven-part groundbreaking documentary that premieres on 12 February 2024.

Watch the trailer here.

4 industries that are changing the digital landscape

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The digital landscape constantly shifts and adapts, with new technologies and innovations coming online every day. Industries across all fields must keep pace to remain relevant and competitive in today’s fast-paced digital world, including the healthcare and finance sectors. Technology has revolutionized these sectors, disrupting traditional practices and opening innovation doors. This blog post will look at four industries that are leading this revolution within their respective sectors. So, sit back and discover exciting breakthroughs taking place right now within these rapidly expanding sectors.

1.   Healthcare

Healthcare has long been the subject of public discourse, with its role essential in maintaining your health and treating illness. Healthcare professionals strive tirelessly to deliver top-quality patient care from hospitals to clinics and private practices. Healthcare evolves quickly, with new treatments and technologies emerging daily. One of the most satisfying fields to work in with an impactful ability. With COVID-19 making its presence felt over the years, its significance has become even clearer. Healthcare maintains a huge industry driven by pharmaceuticals and in-depth patient Care. It remains to be seen whether the privatized system will continue to be the dominant model going forward into the future.

2.   Online casinos

Technology’s rapid adoption and advancement have had an incredible impact on the entertainment industry, particularly through the proliferation of online casinos. The best Australian casino sites make traditional and cutting-edge casino games readily accessible from home through advanced software and encryption technologies to guarantee fair play and protect user data while creating a global market of entertainment. As demand for remote leisure activity options expands further, virtual entertainment trends like online casinos could become leading trends that draw large audiences searching for convenience and variety in gaming experiences. It is convenient entertainment options like this that look set to blow traditional entertainment options straight out of the water.

3.   Retail

Retail is an ever-evolving industry that plays an indispensable role in daily life, from providing essential necessities like groceries and apparel, to purchasing gadgets. Many people depend on retail stores for products of every variety, ranging from groceries and apparel to tech gadgets and everything in between. Retail stores range from big box retailers like Walmart or Best Buy to boutique shops that cater to their target market and provide customers with convenience while creating job opportunities and driving economic development. Retail will always be at the forefront of the industry.

4.   Finance

Technology is having an incredible effect on financial institutions worldwide. Led by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics tools like artificial neural networks and machine learning algorithms, financial institutions now make more informed decisions than ever before. They utilize artificial neural networks and machine learning algorithms to their advantage. That means they are better equipped to identify patterns and anomalies, spot market trends and create predictive models that provide valuable consumer spending behavior analysis. This gives unparalleled consumer behavior analysis insights into consumer spending habits. The finance sector is bound to continue changing as the pace of technology continues.

How is the Online Entertainment Industry Evolving?

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Few sectors of business have evolved as quickly as the online entertainment industry. Only a few decades ago, online entertainment was limited to using a rather basic and slow early incarnation of the internet, going on chat rooms, and speaking to people worldwide. There was no truly on-demand entertainment in the form of film and music until the early 1990s when an extremely basic form of video-on-demand (VOD) services started to become available to the public. Today, the latest technology, along with fast and reliable internet connections are used to give consumers a wide range of online entertainment options to choose from. In this article, some key advances in online entertainment will be explored.

Virtual casino experiences

Today, there are estimated to be around 3,000 online casino sites around the world. These virtual casinos contain a wide range of online casino games ranging from games of pure chance, such as roulette and bingo, to more complex card games, such as poker and baccarat, requiring skill and strategy to play effectively. The overall experience moves closer to that of a brick-and-mortar casino with every year that passes. Features such as live dealer games (taking advantage of improved internet bandwidths and download speeds) allow a human dealer to oversee the action at tables.

This creates a more authentic gaming atmosphere where polite conversation can take place between the dealer and the gamers as they play. In addition, virtual casino environments in the best online sites have photo-realistic graphics that make them virtually indistinguishable from their real-world counterparts. In short, the overall gaming experience from professionally run online casinos has become increasingly realistic in recent years, and the on-demand nature of sites has made it an extremely popular form of online entertainment.

The rise of VR technology

Virtual reality (VR) technology has progressed significantly in the last decade. VR headsets are now commonly used to play a range of gaming titles and offer the game an immersive experience that is far superior to simply gaming on a conventional screen. Titles such as Half-Life Alyx push VR technology to its current limits and produce a highly realistic virtual gaming environment that can be explored in 3D. However, at present, tech limitations mean that VR units need to be linked to gaming PCs or consoles to run the most demanding games. It is expected that as this technology continues to progress, standalone headsets will eventually become as powerful as modern gaming computers, and the gaming format’s immersion will make it a first-choice platform for gamers.

On-demand entertainment in music and video

In 2024, there are a wide range of music and video streaming services available for the public. These services provide access to a vast range of films and millions of music tracks, generally for a small monthly subscription fee. This form of on-demand entertainment continues to advance by using sophisticated algorithms. These algorithms keep track of the viewing and listening choices made by the consumer and allow bespoke lists to be curated automatically that are suitable to their current listening tastes and viewing preferences. Today, films can be streamed in 4K resolution and music at the highest levels of audio fidelity thanks to faster online servers and improved home internet connections.

How Cryptocurrencies Have Revolutionized Online Casinos

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The more widespread use of cryptocurrencies in society has had a profound impact on so many industries, but the effect of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin et al has been felt most of all at online casinos. It would not be an understatement to say that introducing digital currencies onto this platform has reshaped how it works and created new opportunities for players and site owners alike. This can be illustrated best by looking at these key areas.

Enhanced Security and Anonymity

The first area to look at is security, which has always been close to the heart of every casino player. Previously, players would have to have provided personal and financial information that could be stolen from those with malicious intent in the event of a cyberattack. Digital currencies enable transactions without needing this sensitive information, meaning that not only is it safer from hackers, but transactions will not appear in players’ financial statements.

Global Accessibility to Games

This has also meant that there is increased global access to the games that players know and love. It does not matter if players are looking for the best online pokies for real money Australia has to offer or a live dealer experience in London; cryptocurrencies have the potential to offer this. With the wide range of slots around, especially at the better casinos, players have a lot to look forward to – many of them based on themes the players already know from movies or TV shows.

Faster Transactions

Players might be worried about slow, expensive transactions when they are making deposits and withdrawals from casinos, but that won’t be the case when using cryptocurrencies. One of the defining factors of crypto transactions is the speed as well as the security, which can cut down on player frustration when they just want to get started. The only factor that needs to be considered here is the volatile prices of coins, so players need to look to sites like Investopedia so they know what to expect.

Provably Fair Gaming

Another major aspect introduced with cryptocurrency into online casinos is provably fair gaming. Players don’t need to understand the concept fully to know that algorithms can be used to ensure the fairness of games, as they can verify the randomness of each spin. This can build real trust with players, especially those who have done their due diligence and found sites online to research how blockchain technology works. This improves their online casino experience and their willingness to deposit and play more often, which is also to the advantage of the site operator.

So, To Wrap Everything Up

Cryptocurrency has brought about many changes to how people use many websites, with online casinos being at the forefront of this. While they are not welcome at all sites worldwide, those who support them have seen multiple benefits. This includes extra anonymity for the players and the worldwide reach of some casino brands. There has also been a massive improvement in transaction times, and players have peace of mind knowing that the games they are playing are provably fair.