Pioneering Egyptian Startup Tutorama Lands Massive Seed Investment

Having created enough buzz to the point they were “bombarded with demand,” as co-founder Omar Khashaba puts it, Egypt’s new educational platform for people to find tutors online Tutorama has just closed its first round of investment from A15.

The startup, which has been making waves in competitions, from Seedstars and Upscale at Alexandria’s Techne Summit, to the prestigious MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, is now gearing up to launch to the public, catering to the untapped market of online tutoring with over 200 users that have already expressed interest.

“We closed the seed round and launched the pilot for 100 users and we will scale capacity. We wanted to make sure that we optimize user experience first,” Khashaba says. The investment, for an undisclosed amount, will enable Khashaba and his co-founder Mohamed Khodeir to aggressively recruit tutors and add between 30 to 50 users every week. “We haven't launched the version open to the public, but users can go on the site and they will be registered on a waitlist,” he explains. After the launch, expected to be at the end of the year, users will be able to select from a list of tutors and schedule sessions with them according to the subject.

With a 150LE per hour rate, the platform allows for home-based sessions or at public places, in pre-approved locations. Ultimately, the service will allow students to create a tutor pool, forming a group to distribute the cost.  

“The investment comes at a great time,” says Khashaba. “I already had a mentorship relationship with A15 partner Kareem Beshara, so we met with the CEO of A15, and pitched it. It was great because they have companies in their portfolio with could synergistically work really well with us in terms of added services," he says. The leading tech investor has some of Egypt's most well-known startups under its network, including Otlob, Wuzzuf, E7gezly, and more recently, Mumms. "A15 has the right investment mindset, so it’s smart capital, which is rarely found. There are a lot of people that have money, but not necessarily a scientific approach to investment and they don’t contribute value,” Khashaba concludes.

Check out the platform on their website and Facebook Page.