Hello everyone,

Here's my quarterly DirectEd update... and boy, this is a big one! I know you are super busy so this will only take 60 seconds to skim through!

Three Asks

• We have focused on Tison customer delight and refined our processes throughout Q3-Q4, achieving a net promoter score of 7.7 and value for money score of 9/10. Do you know of one person who might need a technical team?
• We are hiring a founding engineer with a background in software development consultancy and one with strong passion for teaching young developers. If you can think of a person who might know this person, then please put my in touch with them!
• Fundraising is my focus in Q1. A lot is in speaking in our favour. We are self-sustaining, have 6-figure investment commitments, have had four meetings with Zoe Hewitt (VP of Talent, Sequoia), and several large grant opportunities (develoPPP, Livelihood Impact Fund, UNICEF Venture fund, Mastercard EdTech fellowship). Can you think of one person who is impact-oriented?

Key Achievements:

1. Oxbridge AIx Finals with “Oral Coding Examiner AI: We were one of ten startups (out of 220+ Oxford and Cambridge startups) reaching the finals. Extra kudos to Talent program members Michael Moses Akoth and Kevin Kirai who worked with Simon and Kidus to develop the POC.
2. Africa Startup Entrepreneurship Summit Award: We were honoured with the "Entrepreneurship Education Champion of the Year" in Accra this November, now the second year in a row. Big kudos to our passionate entrepreneurship trainer Will Gregory for this!
3. USAID Recognition: Among 100 startups sponsored by USAID at the Africa Tech Festival, we were one of two startups that were highlighted as “exemplary” in their summary post on LinkedIn.
4. Client Presentation at WebSummit: FitCheck enables users to get measurements from videos of your body, and suggests which clothes and sizes fit them. They presented this work at one of the world’s biggest startup and tech conferences, Web Summit in Lisbon. We also completed the MVP for our biggest important client of 2024, but we are unable to share this due to NDA.
5. Net Promoter Score and Value Ratings: With a 7.7 NPS and a 9/10 value-for-money rating, our programs continue to resonate with participants and partners alike.

Coming Next:

1. 2025 Core Program: We have already launched the first Intro Course, welcoming students from Byimana School of Science in Rwanda for the first time! In 2025, we are targeting a total of 1000 students enrolled into our Intro Courses, with about 500 continuing on to the Bootcamp — a 5x increase from last year!