FIP70: Fundraising 2/4 – Getting to First Close (Part 1) with Miora Randriambeloma of Chalkboard Education

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Today we hear from Miora Randriambeloma, co-founder of the ed-tech startup Chalkboard Education, which is changing the culture of African education through e-learning. Chalkboard Education aims to democratize learning by providing mobile learning solutions that work on all mobile devices – even without internet connection. Miora tells us what it was like for her team to secure their first investment and how they went about choosing their investors.

On this episode you’ll learn:

The major shifts Miora has observed in education. She comes from a family of teachers and professors. When her parents were choosing a career, teachers and professors were a highly respected choice – now people are shying away from education. What has changed?
Miora tells us about her Liberal Arts background and how it has developed her critical thinking skills and ability to tell a good story. These skills were invaluable during her time as a Marketing Consultant and extremely important to her now.
Miora see Chalkboard Education as solving an accessibility issue – they are bringing the content of a university to individuals who may not otherwise be opportunity to pursue an education. Miora is simplifying a tech problem so that universities don’t have to invest in the tech and can focus on the content.
Chalkboard Education set themselves up at a university so they could get constant feedback from their users.They could work closely with those who would be using their product to troubleshoot problems in real time.
They tried selling the product before they had investors, figured if they could sell the product, that would be a good sign.
How did you know you were ready to raise money? Have a prototype or BETA.
Miora tells us about the value of competitions like Seed Stars. They learned a lot from other companies at these competitions. Everybody there was going through similar journeys and facing similar challenges. They created a Whatsapp group to formalize the community and get instant feedback from each other.
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely path! Find communities and join networks where opportunities arise.
Miora tells us what it means not “just look for money” but, to look for “the right money.”
This type of investment usually comes with a mentorship relationship. Wait for investors who truly care about guiding you in a positive direction.
They needed support from someone who really understood their business. Miora didn’t want someone to just write a cheque and walk away.