Saudi Edtech Noon Academy Raises $41 Million Funding

Saudi Arabia-based edtech startup Noon Academy has raised $41 million in a Series B funding round, which was co-led by Wa’ed Ventures and Raed Ventures, reported Zawya. The round was joined by Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), King Saudi University subsidiary Riyadh Valley Company, Endeavor, Sanabil 500, Qyem Development Holding, and Nahlat Alarab Holding, among others.

Noon – not to be confused with the Saudi e-commerce platform by the same name – was founded in 2013 by Mohammed Aldhalaan and Abdulaziz Alsaeed as a peer-to-peer social learning app and caters to students in MENA and Pakistan (MENAP). It currently services 12 million students and 100,000 teachers across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, the UAE, and Pakistan, to provide students in remote areas with access to education. Noon has a web and mobile-based platform that offers tutoring as well as free and premium educational content, in addition to monthly private tutoring services.

The round will be used to power the edtech’s AI-powered solutions, as well as to fund global expansion. Noon also has plans to integrate its approach into physical classrooms.

In 2020, Noon raised $13 million in a Pre-Series B round led by VC and private equity principals STV. STV also led the startup’s $8.6 mn Series A raise in 2019 – at the time the biggest funding round raised by an edtech from MENA.

Wa’ed Ventures is the $500 mn VC arm of Saudi Aramco. This marks its third investment in an edtech startup – having previously invested in Wade7 and online tutoring startup Faheem, both of which are based in Saudi. Wa’ed has over 60 investments in fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and AI, among other sectors.

Raed Ventures is a Riyadh-based VC and private equity principal. In 2019, it invested in Noon's Series A round. It has a portfolio of more than 25 startups in e-commerce, automotive, HR, enterprise solutions, and logistics, among other sectors.