South African Edtech Startup Snapplify Bolsters Its Ranks With Acquisition Of Onnie Media / Teacha!

South African edtech startup, Snapplify, has acquired Onnie Media / Teacha! – an educator media hub for South African teachers.

The acquisition further diversifies the Snapplify Group’s fast-growing educational portfolio, and highlights the edtech company’s emergence as a serious contender in the global e-learning market.

Onnie Media / Teacha! is South Africa’s largest independent online teacher community. A media hub, resource marketplace, and careers portal – the company specialises in empowering, inspiring, and uplifting South African teachers.

“Onnie Media’s primary goal has been to empower, inspire, and support South African teachers by building platforms that enable teachers to help one another,” said founder and CEO of Onnie Media, Jean Vermeulen.

“We’re proud to have built a network of teachers that embraces the power of online communities to support each other. As teachers ourselves, we see the role of supporting teachers as a critical and important one and are pleased to be joining a company that holds these same values. We’re excited for the next phase of our growth, and to be reaching teachers across Africa.”

Snapplify is looking to consolidate its position on the vanguard of edtech innovations in Africa through its marketplace for digital education content, related educational services, and devices, which are used by thousands of schools across the continent.

With this acquisition, Snapplify aims to move closer to the goal of developing an offering that is compelling and valuable for teachers.

Quite recently, Snapplify announced the launch of its Teacher Benefits programme, which emphasizes its wide-ranging value-adds for teachers: from promotional offers and discounts on prescribed and supplementary materials, to expanded access to teacher-created resources.

“We believe that successful digital education in classrooms requires more than a simple switch from physical to digital textbooks,” said Snapplify CEO, Wesley Lynch.

“Expanding our offering to include teacher support tools is crucially important to us, and we’re pleased to have Teacha! join the Snapplify Group to further this mission.”

The acquisition trails Snapplify’s USD 2 Mn funding round which was closed late last year, with Cape Town-based VC, Knife Capital, and Hlayisani Growth Fund among the startup’s backers.

“The acquisition of Onnie Media / Teacha! by Snapplify is an exciting one,” said Andrea Bohmert of Knife Capital, and chairman of Snapplify’s board. “Snapplify is on a powerful upwards trajectory, growing both its reach and offering for schools, teachers, students, and parents.”

Additionally, Michael Jordaan, ex-CEO of FNB and Venture Capitalist investor in Snapplify, commented thus: “Both Snapplify and Teacha! are doing incredible work to reach and support South African teachers, and I look forward to seeing the continued growth of these two partners.”