Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship

The Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship is a multi-country African edtech venture support program launched with Injini in 2023 and expanded through partners in South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya. It targets growth-oriented education technology companies building tools for African learners, education systems, and workforce pathways. The program provides venture-building support, coaching, market access, impact measurement help, and non-dilutive funding or equity-free grants that vary by partner. The Foundation provides the institutional umbrella while country partners run applications, selection, programming, and local ecosystem delivery.

The program backs African edtech companies with scalable products that can improve learning, workforce readiness, and educational inclusion across local markets. Country partners prioritize ventures that already have a product or market signal and can use funding plus technical assistance to expand measurable impact.

Applicants should focus on demonstrating their impact on learning outcomes and how their solutions address specific educational challenges in African markets.

Eligible applicants are edtech companies operating in specified African country markets, usually with an existing product, customers or users, and founders able to participate in local cohort programming.

Applications are open annually, with cohorts launching quarterly across implementing hubs. Eligible companies are seed to growth-stage EdTech startups based in or serving African markets.

Participating ventures receive structured accelerator support: business model refinement, product and market strategy, investor readiness, expert advisory support, peer learning, and access to local education and technology networks. Funding varies by country partner, with a maximum observed check size of USD 100,000.

Cohorts launch quarterly, culminating in Demo Days in major African cities to showcase progress and connect with investors.