Egyptian Edtech Startup OTO Courses Raises Six-Figure Investment

Egyptian startup OTO Courses has raised an undisclosed six-figure (USD) investment in a bridge round for its English-language learning platform. The investment comes from AUC Angels, the region’s first university-based angel investor network, and startup accelerator Changelabs.

The startup offers online English-language tutoring at both beginner and advanced levels to individuals and businesses. The name OTO Courses is an acronym for one-to-one, emphasising OTO’s most sought out feature: one-on-one live courses with its specialised tutors. 

“OTO is a perfect example of the kind of innovative thinking and strong leadership that Changelabs is looking for in the Egyptian and broader regional startup scene,” says Karim Samra, founder of Changelabs. “The company addresses a massive gap in the market, is led by an empathetic and brilliant management team, and has built a differentiated leading-edge technology platform that clearly sets it apart. We’re excited to continue supporting the company in the next phase of its exponential growth.”

In addition to tutoring, OTO has recently launched DardshEnglish, a platform for users to book practice sessions with tutors where they can put their skills to the test and apply the language.  

“Many students wish to speak to multiple people to increase their confidence and fluency in the English language around topics they wish to expand their lexical resources on,” says Ahmed Badr, co-founder and COO of OTO. “This ranges from general topics such as travel or food to more specific topics such as marketing or tourism, and that is what DardshEnglish helps with.”

With the help of this recent investment, OTO aims to develop the platform and services to reach a wider pool of users wishing to learn English while most, if not all, educational centres remain shut due to the COVID-19 outbreak.