Kuwaiti Fintech startup Ruba, which aims to make education accessible to all, announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round.
Ruba addresses a pain point in relation to school fees. Currently, parents pay hefty tuition fees over 2 to 3 installments every school year, which in many cases results in cash flow stress. Ruba provides them with a convenient, seamless and fully-digital option of paying monthly over up to 12-months, at zero cost.
By having a convenient and flexible financing solution, parents can now pay in line with their monthly cash flow, which will in turn eliminate any manual collection headache or risk for schools. A win-win solution for all.
As per The Boston Consulting Group, the GCC private education market is growing exponentially, with an expectation to reach $26 billion by 2023.
Ruba was founded in November 2021 by three Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, Ameen Nadoom, Fawaz Al-Rashdan and Menawer Al-Azmi. Their collective experience covers Management Consulting, Banking, Telco and Retail in the GCC and North America.
“Parents are seeking to invest in a better future for their kids and schools want to focus all their efforts on providing high-quality education. That’s exactly what we make happen at Ruba. Since officially launching in September 2022, the traction we’ve witnessed has been tremendous. We are grateful to all the educational institutions and parents who believed in us from the start. We aren’t just any typical financing solution, but are one focused on a social cause that will touch the lives of every household”, says Ruba CEO, Ameen.
“Ruba started off as a smart directory to help parents make an educated decision about the best school for their child’s future”, explains Ruba COO, Fawaz. “However, due to market needs, we have shifted our focus to offering Shariah-compliant Enroll Now, Pay Later (ENPL) solutions for private schools and nurseries in the region, and have a plan to cover universities as early as next year. Geographically, we are present in Kuwait but are expanding to the region, with KSA being the first in early 2023.”
Menawer, CTO of Ruba, highlights that they have built a fully digital, API-first platform that caters to parents as well as educational institutions. Parents can easily request a breakdown of these lump sums into affordable monthly instalments, making it more convenient than ever before. Educational institutions can also easily manage and track all payments made through the platform, eliminating any reconciliation challenges and delays.
