How Maqsad’s Mobile Education Can Help More Pakistani Students Learn

Growing up in Pakistan, high-school friends Rooshan Aziz and Taha Ahmed, the founders of edtech start-up Maqsad, were very conscious of their good fortune. It seeks to disrupt the countrys out-of-school education sector, which largely consists of expensive tuition services that most families cant afford.Maqsad offers an exceptional after-school learning experience for students at a fraction of the cost of existing alternatives, Ahmed explains. The app provides access to high-quality content developed by experienced teachers, but also uses artificial intelligence tools to offer personalised learning.Aimed initially at students aged 15 to 19 often preparing for board or university entrance exams the platform aims to have real impact in a market where student-teacher ratios, at 44:1, are among the highest in the world. Todays round, which will bring the total amount of funding raised by the company to $4.9 million, is led by Speedinvest and existing investor Indus Valley Capital. Investing again in Maqsad is a no-brainer as we have seen them bring together one of the best start-up teams in Pakistan to build a category-leading product that has helped over a million students.Philip Specht, a partner at Speedinvest, one of Europes largest seed funds, is also excited by the opportunity to drive social change.