Nigerian startup Sproutly, a financial services platform for educational institutions, has announced the launch of its version two, along with several strategic partnerships designed to enhance benefits for its users.
Founded in June 2021 by Pierre Nwoke, Maxwell Agu and Prince Akachi, initially as a banking app for children, Germination simplifies educational payments, financial management and access to credit, providing schools with cash flow visibility, accurate reporting and financial control.
Educational administrators benefit from different payment methods, simplified access and dedicated support, allowing them to focus on teaching while easing the financial burden on families.
Originally designed for K-12 schools, the first version of Sproutly highlighted areas for improvement, leading to the 14-month development of version two, which was just released. This update expands its scope to include education technology companies, universities, colleges, alumni associations and specialist schools.
“We started banking with children and teens first, and our financial services component for schools and families was a free but revenue-generating marketing strategy to target parents and students – these kids are for most in school nine months a year,” Nwoke, the startup’s CEO, told Disrupt Africa.
“We quickly realized that there was a significant problem to be solved in this area. After measuring the impact, we found that prioritizing financial services over digital banking was a better product-market fit. This made sense because we were still serving the demographic we wanted to help, but with a more data-driven approach and a broader market for introducing new products.
Version two introduces two platforms: the Webapp School dashboard and the Sproutly Mobile app for billing managers. The web app’s main features include advanced billing, payment collection, personalized wallets and a loyalty points system, while the mobile app offers flexible payment options including installment payments, transactions portfolio and multi-manager billing account control. It also includes the Sproutly Cowri Credit program.
“Previously, only civil servants or white-collar workers could access student loans to facilitate the payment of tuition fees. With school fees increasing by up to 100 percent in the last year, many families are facing significant financial burdens, contributing to higher numbers of out-of-school children. The Cowri credit allows students to stay in school while parents repay school fees in monthly installments, similar to paying monthly bills,” Nwoke said.
“As we continued our research and development, we discovered many issues impacting tuition and the quality of education. We aimed to solve these problems step by step. Schools previously spent significant amounts of money on paper billing and manual reconciliation, and many still do not have fully digital operations. This is why we have partnered with key players to provide these schools with effective management tools.
New strategic partnerships include those with Gamp to offer discounted pricing on device protection; Zoho for credits for Zoho’s full suite of workplace management tools; Wellahealth for discounts on healthcare plans; GO54, formerly Whogohost, for discounted email and domain services; and Prembly for discounted screening and background check products.