Craydel, a Kenyan edtech platform that helps students apply to universities abroad, has expanded into Burundi and Tanzania, marking its sixth and seventh markets across Africa. The expansion—its fourth in under a year—cements Craydel’s position as the first Kenyan education startup to build a continental footprint.
The platform now operates in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Burundi, and Tanzania, targeting the growing number of African students seeking overseas education. An estimated 400,000 African students study abroad each year, a market Craydel believes is underserved by existing players.
Craydel has built an AI-powered university matchmaker tool that matches students with their best-fit universities.
“Across Africa, students face the same challenge: limited, biased advice from a fragmented agent system,” Craydel co-founder and CEO Manish Sardana told . “At Craydel, we’re flipping that model—putting control back in learners’ hands with seamless access to the tech to search, match, and apply to their best-fit universities. With proven playbooks for new market expansion, we’re scaling fast, with the learner always at the centre.”
In May, following its entry into Rwanda, Sardana said the startup is now in its growth stage and expanding operations through partnerships with more overseas educational institutions as it broadens options for African students exploring various career options.
Founded in 2021 by Sardana, John Nguru, and Shayne Aman Premji, Craydel has raised more than $2.5m in venture funding from investors, including Enza Capital and Angaza Capital. The platform allows learners to register for free, while universities and colleges listed on the site pay commissions for each student enrollment they receive.
Craydel’s main rivals include Canadian ApplyBoard and Australia’s IDP Education, which have long dominated the global student recruitment market. But unlike these international giants, Craydel is betting that a locally-rooted, pan-African model gives it an edge in building trust and scaling faster across fragmented education markets.
“With proven playbooks for new market expansion, we’re scaling fast, with the learner always at the center. Our expansion to Burundi and Tanzania is part of our journey to deploy the Craydel platform across Africa,” Sardana said.
The company estimates Africa’s edtech market is worth about $30 billion annually, buoyed by rising youth demographics and growing demand for global education pathways. Craydel’s management has signalled that further market launches are on the horizon as it pushes toward profitability.
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