EduFocal engages Mayberry Investments as financial adviser
SOCIAL LEARNING platform EduFocal has engaged the services of Mayberry Investments Limited to act as financial adviser in the lead-up to a capital raise by the company, either privately or publicly.
EduFocal, which wants to extend its reach to students regionally, got a financial boost in June 2020 when Mayberry acquired a minority stake in the business. It’s expected that the education company will seek fresh capital via an initial public offering of shares to help finance its expansion plans, but Mayberry Investments was tight-lipped on how much the company intends to raise or when it will go to market.
EduFocal’s intellectual property platform makes it relatively easy for the institution to expand its offering to other territories, which it plans to do in the short term.
“Mayberry’s input will be critical as we take this major step,” said EduFocal co-founder Gordon Swaby in a press release.
The name EduFocal is familiar to many households, particularly homes in which students are preparing for the Primary Exit Profile, or PEP, examinations. Since 2012, the institution has been preparing students for their PEP examinations and helping them position to enter their top-choice high school.
The programme is made up of subject-based quizzes, timed practice tests, 23,000 practice questions, video tutorials and a PEP library. The subjects covered are mathematics, social studies, science and language arts, and are targeted at 70,000 students in Jamaica.
During the onset of COVID-19, the institution expanded its service offerings to include students at the grade four to six levels, to assist with accessing online, full-time school.
“Our intuitive product boosts student’s comprehension and retention skills through fun means. We want to be the Caribbean’s premier learning platform, but to do so we require the right guidance, financial advice and direction,” Swaby said.
Executive Chairman of Mayberry Christopher Berry wants to kick things up a notch, having said that EduFocal should extend its services to high-school students.
Dan Theoc, senior vice-president of investment banking at Mayberry, said in the release that the investment company’s partnership with EduFocal as an investor “ranks very highly” for the firm.