Meet KLAS
The Fast-Rising Nigerian e-Learning Platform Powering Live Learning Across the Globe.
Hello friends,
I can call you that, yes? Okay.
On today’s episode of Leverage, I bring you…
Nathan Nwachukwu, Co-founder, and CEO of Klas, the first all-in-one platform for live learning, spoke with the Leverage team on the journey to building the startup. He goes into exciting details on the inspiration for Klas, struggling with partial blindness, attracting investors, and what is next for the startup!
Tell us about the journey to building Klas. You couldn’t complete your tertiary education from what we know about you. Was that a driving factor when creating the platform? Also, what was the journey before Klas like, and how has it been so far?
‘’I was jumping from one hospital to another, trying to get the eye back’’.
I wanted to launch an online physics school where I could run live physics training. I always wanted to have this exciting life where I'm just solving problems.
When Klas was first created, I was 15 and had just become blind in my right eye. I underwent all sorts of surgeries, from laser to prosthetic, during this time.
At this time, I didn't know how to code. So, we started working on Klas, and it was more or less trying to build and code.
It wasn't until December that we got the attention of our first investor, Tola, the CEO of Spleet. Klas was trying to build and code when Tola reached out through LinkedIn.
In April, Klas raised $100,000 on Indiegogo, and in May, we raised an extra $130,000. In June, we got into TechStars. We stopped using Zoom and built our video virtual platform.
So that has been the journey for Klas so far.
An estimated 20 million Africans of school age may never attend school. What edu-related challenges do you hope to solve with Klas?
When I started Klas, I wanted to build a platform where anybody could train and teach, a place anyone could share their knowledge.
For example, Nigerian universities frequently embark on strikes, and one way we can help is to partner with these universities and run live training.
We can run live training for people affected by ASUU across the country.
This will help universities and colleges to extend themselves virtually.
Klas was launched this year; how did it go from an idea to more than 35,000 users in such a short period? What would you say has been your most effective marketing strategy?
Every class brings an average of 20-30 users to the platform, and there's a viral loop there. It's similar to the use case of Calendly – so you know if you download it, see just how easy it is, and may choose to sign up for it.
So, partnerships with training schools and institutes across Africa helped us.
I don't think we have spent up to $700 on ADs since we started Klas, but the branding has gone beyond the borders of Nigeria.
We have branded ourselves from day one as a global company.
Our user base cuts across over 21 countries, from West African countries to Eastern Europe and Russia. The only market we don't have users of yet is Asia, not the entire continent, just the South Pacific.
There have been and are still several successful platforms similar to the Klas. How do you navigate dealing with competitors, and what would you say makes Klas stand out?
The live training market, contrary to popular belief, is new. The live training market didn't exist until 2020.
Klas is the best all-in-one platform for live training.
It takes care of everything from payment, class scheduling, hosting, and community. We are currently piloting a marketing tool for SMS and e-mail reminders for classes.
With time we will take over the live training market, just like Hopin took the virtual events market from Zoom.
What is Klas API? We know it hasn’t launched yet, but what will it be like, and why should current Klas users and non-users be excited about it?
Most video APIs are built for video communication, not live training. We decided we would make the world's first live training API.
So at Klas, we have built a very special tech for live training, and we figured some other EdTech companies might want to power live training inside their apps and platforms.
The waitlist is up on the website, and we'll launch it in a few days.
We already have over 30 companies, including two of the biggest EdTech companies in Africa.
It's giving the power of live training to every company and every EdTech brand.
Tell us more about how your startup managed to secure the Angel Investment, how you plan to use it to grow the platform, and what is next for Klas.
So, securing the funding was easier than I expected. We knew that EdTech startups had a stigma when we started, especially in Africa. There's a reason why many EdTech startups don’t get a lot of funds. They are usually classified as boring, uninteresting, and not economically scalable.
Klas is a platform that powers other EdTech companies that do their content. Although we are an EdTech platform, we have never used the word education anywhere. So, I needed to position and brand Klas not as an education company but as a pure technology company.
Our game plan was to build the infrastructure when we did the angel round.
The actual round raised $100,000 in two weeks, then oversubscribed by $230,000.
We're also about to close a pre-seed, which will be used for global expansion. We are looking to go into North America and India entirely and support currencies for several other countries.
So, we see it’s been an interesting and amazing journey for Nathan, a young, industrious man empowering lives and changing the story of education in the tech ecosystem.
As seen in Nathan’s story, no matter what it is, obstacles or challenges, you know to stand your ground and see the big picture.
We will bring you more insightful stories and interviews. Do keep an eye out for our next content.
Have a lovely week.
Be safe.
Jewel from Leverage.
I hope you enjoyed reading through as much as I did. Tell me what your thoughts are, and let’s talk about them.