Mentornaut, a new online tutoring platform, has announced a €200K investment round, led by Ivo Remmelg, Harri Tallinn ja Kuido Lepik (EstBAN). The platform is aiming to increase inclusion in personalised education, and counts Superangel, United Angels VC and a list of EdTech advocates like Bolt co-founder Martin Villig, and Clanbeat co-founder Kadri Tuisk among its investors.

Founded in 2020 by Markus Meresma and Gregor Mändma, the edtech startup is developing an online learning platform to help bridge knowledge gaps and support students in achieving their maximum potential in school. Mentornaut was developed during the Coronavirus pandemic, when lockdown restrictions brought 1.5 billion children around the world into remote learning. As distance and remote learning becomes more common globally, Mentornaut was established with the realisation that parents are becoming increasingly open to private tutoring to help their children overcome learning gaps. 

Since its launch in Estonia in 2020, Mentornaut has seen 2,500 private lessons booked on its platform, and have so far received positive feedback from clients. Mersema comments that through the platform, many have “rediscovered the fun in learning”. 

Now launched in Kenya, the platform saw over 120 sign-up requests to tutor onboarding in the first few hours. In Africa, the average pupil-to-teacher ratio in primary schools is extremely high at 42:1, resulting in the need for private supplementary tutoring. Mentornaut uses a proactive approach to grow its body of tutors with students, schoolteachers, and experienced private tutors brought on board to increase diversity and help more people get affordable access to personalised learning. 

The new funding will be used to further advance the automation of the platform, streamlining personalized education for parents, children, and private tutors across Africa and Eastern Europe. The company’s long-term vision is to create a personalised learning system to shape the emergence of personal learning pathways and support studies in general education schools