20 May 2021
The winner of the EdTech prize presented by Seedstars' partner Haute école de gestion Fribourg (HEG-FR). This startup is driven by the idea that part-time jobs should be accessible to anyone who is willing to exchange their time and intellect for additional income. To that end, Orcas is looking to create the largest tutoring marketplace in the MENA region where they connect students with early-career professionals and teachers.
From June to November each year, the Seedstars team looks for the most promising early-stage startups from 90+ emerging markets that will receive intensive training on how to be investment-ready. They will take part in local, regional, and global stage competitions, but only one of them will be crowned as the Global Winner and receive a prize of up to USD 500,000 in equity investment.
This startup is driven by the idea that part-time jobs should be accessible to anyone who is willing to exchange their time and intellect for additional income. To that end, Orcas is looking to create the largest tutoring marketplace in the MENA region where they connect students with early-career professionals and teachers.
We spoke with Hossam Taher, CEO of Orcas, an app that helps learners in K-12 discover the best tutors in their area.
“We saw that there were very few flexible work opportunities for university students, but that there was a huge need for qualified and trusted tutors. We solved this problem by creating a platform for them to connect - creating jobs for young people as educators while simultaneously providing school-age students with the best tutors for them.”
The engagement of the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR) with Seedstars is rooted in our vision to creating positive impact through the students and partners who benefit from our programs and activities in three core areas: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Internationalization.” Seedstars supports all these three pillars.
As a business school, we think that our students, and tomorrow’s leaders, have to be multicultural and sensitized to the new and emerging markets, as well as be engaged with the developments that arise from them. This will be highly important for many of their future jobs. The immersion and insights that our students, particularly at Masters level, gain from exposure to Seedstars and its engagement leads also to a stronger sensibility to our connected world, and the issues and solutions that arise from emerging markets. The engagement with Seedstars shows and tells to our students, that they can be resourceful with their own creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial aspirations.