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A technology-led education venture, which was co-founded by a Guernsey-woman, has won a $25,000 prize to help its work benefitting pupils at rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa.
Skizaa came second in the Milken–Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition, which each year awards tens of thousands of pounds to organisations seeking to address persistent problems in education.
This year's winner, announced at a recent event in New York, was Unlocked Labs, a venture that empowers and employs justice-impacted individuals to design and build technology that promotes human flourishing and enables decarceration. That project won $40,000.
Skizaa - co-founded by Ali Buckland - was awarded the $25,000 Cognativ Inc. Prize.
Described as a venture that helps education leaders make "real-time data-driven decisions by collecting and analyzing data from rural schools in Sub-Saharan Africa", the project, Ms Buckland said it is already helping around 40,000 students.
Pictured: Ali Buckland receiving the prize on behalf of Skizaa.
"It was so exciting to travel to New York for the competition and meet investors, fellow entrepreneurs and the organisers of the competition from Catalyst @ Penn GSE at Edtech Week New York City," she said.
"On the third day of the conference I pitched, with the seven other finalists selected from around the world, at the Times Center stage in New York City. I was incredibly nervous before presenting but it felt amazing to elevate the voices of the teachers, students and organisations we work with across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria.
"Amongst such amazing finalists who are all also doing incredible work in the field of education I felt incredibly proud to have won second prize, and grateful to my whole team standing behind me who have helped make this happen.
"Today, 40,000 students are benefitting from our technology but by the third quarter of next year this will expand to over a million students - and I know this money will help us to get there."
The EBPC attracts innovative education ventures from around the world and over the 14 years it has been run so far, it has awarded more than $2million in cash and prizes. The winners and finalists are said to have gone on to earn more than $200 million in funding through their work.
“The Milken–Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition was founded 14 years ago to support entrepreneurs addressing persistent problems in education,” explained Michael Golden, Executive Director of Catalyst @ Penn GSE.
“The latest NAEP results confirm that we need innovative solutions now more than ever. The winners show us the enormous potential of EdTech innovators to expand educational equity worldwide.”
The EBPC is made possible through the support of the Michael and Lori Milken Family Foundation, Cognativ Inc., Magnitude Digital, Osage Venture Partners, Amazon Web Services, and Conscious Venture Partners.
Pictured top: The winners of the 2023 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition, with Ali Buckland of Guernsey in the centre.
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