{"id":10294,"date":"2018-10-31T11:32:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T08:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/?p=10294"},"modified":"2018-10-31T11:32:27","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T08:32:27","slug":"eneza-education-founding-story-a-tale-of-passion-for-under-served-learners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/2018\/10\/31\/eneza-education-founding-story-a-tale-of-passion-for-under-served-learners\/","title":{"rendered":"Eneza Education Founding Story: A Tale of Passion for Under-served Learners."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_10298\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10298\" class=\" wp-image-10298\" src=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Eneza Education: Some Shupavu291 users on a trip\" width=\"740\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5049-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10298\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some Shupavu291 users on a trip<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MPrep (now Eneza Education), was founded in 2011 by Kenyan teachers and educators keen on making technology useful for their students. \u00a0The idea came about due to a lack of quality engaging revision material for students in rural areas where textbooks are expensive and obviously non-interactive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Co-Founders<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toni Maraviglia, one of our co-founders was a teacher who spent her initial time, in Kenya in a rural village, for a year. During her stay in Muhuru Bay, she taught students and teachers as part of a programme with the non-profit \u00a0WISERBridge. Her <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">students had no library where they could conduct their research so she would engage her students with a system of revision flashcards which promoted great peer learning and collaboration among learners and teachers.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Despite this method, it was hard to ensure everyone participated in this system. One student, Daniel in class 7 failed his KCPE exams despite the tutoring and tools he had access to from the programme.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10296\" style=\"width: 753px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shupavu291-launch-e1540971933165.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10296\" class=\"wp-image-10296\" src=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shupavu291-launch-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"Eneza Education: Shupavu291 Launch\" width=\"743\" height=\"416\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10296\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eneza Education: Shupavu291 Launch- from left to right (Safaricom&#8217;s CEO, Bob Collymore, three pupils using Shupavu291, Toni Maraviglia, Kago Kagichiri &amp; Caroline Mutoko.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kago Kagichiri, our other co-founder developed his first mobile chat room at the age of 14. He took an unpaid staff position as supervisor of the computer lab while in high school at Starehe Boys\u2019 Centre &amp; School. \u00a0Kago joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology and was a top student in his degree for two years running. He felt trapped by a system that seemed to promote rote learning even at the university level and held him back \u201cfrom acquiring more knowledge\u201d, and so dropped out in his second year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In October 2011, Kago &amp; Toni met through the iHub, one of Africa\u2019s first tech hubs in Nairobi. They co-founded MPrep. Toni\u2019s teaching experience and love for the classroom, together with Kago\u2019s love for technology and acquiring practical knowledge, allowed them to develop content aligned lessons and assessments on mobile phones, delivered by SMS (text message), to help students learn even in the most marginalized areas of Africa. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2012, mobile penetration in Kenya was 69% according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/publicpolicy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/gsma_ssamo_full_web_11_12-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GSMA <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sub-Saharan Africa Mobile Observatory 2012. One common thing that was available even in the rural village were mobile phones. Toni conducted a survey in which 90% of the children at Mahuru Bay, despite a lack of electricity for all, had access to a mobile phone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our co-founders were brought together by a belief that all children are entitled to equal access to affordable education. SMS was the best way to provide literacy to learners at scale. It made sense to use the readily available simple technology &#8211; these mobile \u201cdumb\u201d phones- to give access to localized learning content aligned to the national curriculum. \u00a0Eneza continued to prove the value proposition for SMS based, bite-sized lessons, assessments and real-time feedback through their study tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10295\" style=\"width: 591px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Toni-Maraviglia-Bob-Collymore.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10295\" class=\" wp-image-10295\" src=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Toni-Maraviglia-Bob-Collymore.jpg\" alt=\"Eneza Education Shupavu291 Launch: Bob Collymore &amp; Toni Maraviglia \" width=\"581\" height=\"515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Toni-Maraviglia-Bob-Collymore.jpg 238w, https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Toni-Maraviglia-Bob-Collymore-100x89.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 581px) 100vw, 581px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10295\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eneza Education Shupavu291 Launch: Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore, Toni Maraviglia &amp; two pupils from Milimani Primary School.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The content on the platform was developed by the collaboration of practicing teachers from all over Kenya <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to create the content for Eneza&#8217;s initial Class 7 and Class 8 study tool. \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In mid-2012, they partnered with Safaricom to deliver a low-cost solution where students paid a fraction of the cost for SMS messages to access learning. They also provided data to parents and teachers for purposes of monitoring student performance. This mutually beneficial partnership allowed Eneza to revise their mission to Making 50 million rural kids in Africa smarter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Impact study<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2013, Eneza implemented an internal 3-month long <a href=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/an-infographic-presentation-of-enezas-2012-impact-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">impact study<\/a> among <a href=\"https:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/impact-study-on-mprep-done-at-m-m-chandaria-primary-school-2012\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pilot schools<\/a> showed an improvement of at least 15% compared to the previous year. \u00a0They learned that the platform fostered more confidence, knowledge retention and collaborative learning among students where some used the same phone to study in groups. \u00a0Students studied more thanks to Eneza Education.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The number of students learning on the platform grew rapidly but because they were still being charged per SMS, students who had high engagement couldn\u2019t afford the platform. In 2014, Eneza Education created a new product with Safaricom, Kenya\u2019s largest telecommunication network to provide learning at a fixed weekly cost of $0.10 to access unlimited messages and content for 7 days. At the same time, the SMS\/USSD study tool was rebranded to Shupavu291 (\u2018shupavu\u2019 means champion).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from providing learning content through SMS\/USSD, Eneza Education also provided multi-device learning platforms like the desktop web, mobile web, Android app and chatbots (Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger) to diversify accessibility to different learners, even though 99% of users still access \u00a0Shupavu291 via SMS (text message).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Incubations &amp; Investments<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At inception, Eneza was part of the first cohort of startups that were incubated at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nailab.co.ke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Nailab<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a business incubator offering an entrepreneurship programme focusing on growing technology-driven ideas. Eneza has since got leadership and growth support from prestigious fellowships like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.echoinggreen.org\/fellows\/toni-maraviglia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Echoing <\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.echoinggreen.org\/fellows\/Kago-Kagichiri\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Green<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, The Unreasonable Institute, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/girleffectaccelerator.com\/portfolio\/the-g-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Girl Effect Accelerator<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.chicagoideas.com\/speaker_showcase\/bhsi-fellow-update-toni-maraviglia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bluhm Helfand Social Innovation (BHSI)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eneza Education has enabled students like <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/mobile-learning-made-possible-by-shupavu291-twaweza\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imelda<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/erastus-shupavu291-user-testimonial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Erastus<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/marcus-njeru-63-with-shupavu291-its-never-too-late-to-learn-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maclus<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/mobile-learning-improves-timid-isaiahs-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Isaiah <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to access affordable study material through simple phones. \u00a0With over 4.9 Million learners, Eneza is now the largest virtual classroom in Africa. \u00a0In March 2018, Shupavu291 was the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/eneza-education-safaricom-awarded-education-award-gsma-2018-global-mobile-awards-mwc18\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">best mobile innovation for education<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Global Mobile Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>CEOs<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toni was CEO of Eneza Education until 2016 when she relocated to the United States and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/enezaeducation.com\/new-beginnings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">handed over the role<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to Kago, her co-founder and CTO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Kago then led Eneza Education till October 2018, when he transitioned to board member role. He was always passionate about coding and this transition allowed him to explore solving other problems in Africa. Munyutu Waigi took over as Interim Chief Executive Officer in October 2018 to January 2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/wambura-kimunyu-32ab201a\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wambura Kimunyu<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, our new CEO joined us in February 2019. With ten years experience in the Pan Africa tech space, she brings the skills needed to take Eneza Education to the next level. Wambura, who has a degree in education, has worked in publishing, premium mobile services as well as FinTech and has developed a deep understanding of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP)\u00a0 and mass markets both in Kenya and across Africa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MPrep (now Eneza Education), was founded in 2011 by Kenyan teachers and educators keen on making technology useful for their students. \u00a0The idea came about due to a lack of &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/2018\/10\/31\/eneza-education-founding-story-a-tale-of-passion-for-under-served-learners\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[204,205,314,383,495,577],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/59-e1540974706824.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enezaeducation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}