The MENA region by 2021 has witnessed a significant leap in edtech funding from approximately $2M in 2017 to over $ 50M in 2021. This growth carries on with LEORON Institute ; an e-learning company and corporate training provider based in Saudi Arabia bagging capital from Olive Rock Partners. Such funding is still unknown either as the number of donors, the total amount of money, or any other disguised identity.
LEORON was started in 2010 and provides services in Learning and Development Solutions specializing in sectors such as corporate finance, HR, procurement, technology, and engineering. LEORON’s current annual portfolio of over 1,200 programs benefiting more than 25,000 professionals is intended to be enriched and broadened and the company is planned to extend across the GCC countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.
About this investment, Arben Jusufi, co-founder of LEORON, said that ‘Olive Rock Partners’ investment in LEORON means the necessary capital and a strategic plan to expand and diversify the educational service in corporate training and EdTech and make LEORON ready to offer unprecedented value and innovation in professional development’.
This funding is the first Saudi venture for the Olive Rock which established its debut fund, Olive Rock Partners Equity Fund I, LP, focused on growth capital and later-stage in the UAE and KSA. As part of the investment, two of Olive Rock founding partners Muhannad Qubbaj and Abdullah Shahin sits on LEORON’s board of directors.
Muhannad Qubbaj of Arab Media Group showed enthusiasm in the partnership and highlighted the firm’s dedication to aiding LEORON’s expansion in the area and its clients’ satisfaction. He said, “We think their sturdy and distinct system will let the company extend its increasing services and skilling solutions to a rising range of institutional, corporate and other partners. ”
This funding round is not the only edtech investment in the MENA area, following the investment in other Middle Eastern companies such as Noon, iStoria, Loora, and others, pointing to the MENA area as another rapidly growing area when it comes to edtech investment.