Our Corporate Structuring lawyers at Al Tamimi & Company explores Ameena Bucheeri Interview: The Life and Times of an EdTech App and provide updates
Rad El Treki Partner, Head of Office – Bahrain, Corporate Structuring
Yara Frotan Associate, Corporate Structuring
Hussain Osman Associate, Innovation & Patents
The Covid-19 pandemic identified several logistical and practical gaps in the delivery of essential day-to-day services to dependant users and consumers, including in the education space. Out of the rubble rose a tall order of combating physical accessibility to classrooms through utilising a combination of software and bandwidth.
Enter Telp. A Bahrain founded EdTech solution offering parents the convenience of online tutoring and empowering community tutors to find students, manage their schedules, and track their earnings. This advent in the delivery of education was the brainchild of Ameena Bucheeri (“Ameena”) - an award-winning Bahraini female entrepreneur – who kindly let Al Tamimi & Company into her journey of creating an EdTech app and shared her insights on what the wider sector holds in store.
Al Tamimi & Company: Tell us about the EdTech landscape in Bahrain.
Ameena: Over the years, the EdTech landscape in Bahrain has been steadily growing. We have experienced in particular learning management systems, corporate training and B2B models and several tutoring platforms emerge. It is a field that has been a popular sector within technology for several start-ups in Bahrain and one that shows no sign of slowing down.
Al Tamimi & Company: How would you describe the experience of undergoing a seed-funding round? Ameena: Raising our seed round was definitely an interesting experience. Initially, we raised from an accelerator in Bahrain, which was a great kick-start for the business. It allowed us to leave our jobs and focus on the start-up full time. There are several tech incubators and accelerators in Bahrain that start-ups can benefit from in terms of practical support, training, networking and funding, in addition to different types of funding that businesses can benefit from other than equity investment, such as Tamkeen subsidy support programs or grants.
Options were more limited in Bahrain post-acceleration, particularly at a seed stage where we needed to raise further investment. On the other hand, this was not really a limitation for us because when considering seed funding, start-ups should reach out to and develop their network with different investors across the region, which is exactly what we did. Most VCs targeting Bahrain look at series A and beyond, rather than investing solely in seed rounds. Our seed round consisted of accelerators in and outside of Bahrain, and angel investors outside Bahrain. We met angel investors through social media and attending start-up events across the region, particularly in Saudi Arabia. We found that during these events, investors are very open and excited to meet new start-ups regionally. Although it is not difficult to reach them, we had to ensure that the relationship and communication are maintained to have them invest at some stage in the future.
Al Tamimi & Company: What challenges did you face as an EdTech app in the Bahrain market?
Ameena: As a Bahraini start-up, we found that investors are not interested in only Bahrain as a market, because of its size. When Bahraini based start-ups reach out to investors, they need to emphasise their plans for future expansion, and if they have traction in outside markets. During our seed stage, although we had higher traction than similar start-ups in the region, we had valuable traction outside Bahrain. This is something that is unique to start-ups based in Bahrain versus start-ups based in bigger markets like Saudi Arabia. Another challenge faced in Bahrain was the price sensitivity of customers, considering that we were a B2C model targeting high school and university students. We were also targeting parents, who often expect ongoing tutoring support and expect offers and packages, which were provided. Generally, for one-off classes, price sensitivity was and continues to be a challenge.
Finally, when we expanded to Riyadh, we realised the differences in consumer behaviour, expectation and experiences. Competition was higher and we had to meet customer demands faster, while booking times had to be lower.
Al Tamimi & Company: What did you find to be easier than expected when setting up your EdTech app in Bahrain?
Ameena: Not much comes easy with a start-up. In their nature, start-ups are hard - that is the beauty of it and where all the learning comes from. In terms of the legal framework, it was easy to set up a ‘Sijili’ virtual Commercial Registration (CR) at the start, which was helpful since all payment gateways in Bahrain require a Commercial Registration. Once an investor was on board, we switched to a With Limited Liability company (WLL).
Al Tamimi & Company: How would you evaluate your engagements with the relevant regulators whilst setting up Telp?
Ameena: Despite there being uncertainty as to whether tutoring is permitted within schools, we did not face challenges with regulators. When we did want to set up outside of Bahrain, the ministries of the respective jurisdiction would call to ask what our activity was, and the ministry employees were unsure as to whether tutoring was permitted. This delayed some of our procedures outside Bahrain but we thankfully did not face these issues in Bahrain. This could be due to having our incorporation finalised through a law firm in Bahrain that our investors appointed, and so we did not see any issues face-on in Bahrain, whereas in Riyadh we tried to finalise the incorporation ourselves without engaging the services of a law firm.
Al Tamimi & Company: What are things you would do differently if you were to set up an EdTech app today?
Ameena: I would not change anything about my initial experience because it was an interesting experience that taught me about the economics of a market place and different business models. If I were to set up an EdTech app today however then the approach would be very different – I would try not to focus purely on B2C, and maybe try a concept to target B2B, because starting with B2C in a concept that cannot grow to B2B becomes challenging. I would look at a concept where both B2B and B2C could be rolled out from the outset.
Al Tamimi & Company: As an EdTech entrepreneur, how did your journey with Telp contribute to developing your commercial awareness and skills?
Ameena: Setting up and having a start-up was by far the most enriching experience I have ever had. The things I have been able to learn in 3 years is beyond what I could have expected, both personally and from career-wise - the people I met, the challenges encountered, the problems solved. This cannot be relayed by a book or from one person, it is something you have to experience first-hand yourself.
Al Tamimi & Company: What can Bahrain’s start-up ecosystem benefit from to reach global heights?
Ameena: Bahrain’s ecosystem is definitely supportive of start-ups. In the past 5 years, it has developed and introduced a raft of measures to facilitate the start-up sector, including accelerators, incubators, virtual CRs, co-working spaces and Tamkeen. At the same time, although Bahrain may be referred to as a Launchpad, in reality, expanding from Bahrain comes with its own challenges because Bahrain is a smaller and more different market to many neighbouring countries. The next step in terms of Bahrain’s ecosystem is to see how we could get businesses ready to expand at an earlier stage and a lot faster.
Al Tamimi & Company: What is the future of EdTech in Bahrain? Ameena: I see schools increasingly adopting online learning models within their existing operating models. Something that I did not predict as a tech startup is the extent of which COVID increased the online and virtual learning adoption. Before COVID, we would see strong reluctance and objection from different stakeholders (like parents, students, schools) with regards to virtual learning. Suddenly, user behaviour changed to an extent that, in other circumstances, would have taken over 10 years to reach. Contrastingly, we still see consistent preference for face-to-face learning, particularly for the younger age groups. It is recognised and evident that different learning methods apply to different age groups.
Many learners and institutions realise benefits of online learning, for example, cutting costs. While there will be an increase of online learning adoption as time progresses, it would not be as quick as it was during the peak of COVID because in that case it was beyond the consumer’s control. Overall, the future is that virtual learning is normalised.
Al Tamimi & Company: In your opinion, how would you imagine a standard school curriculum in 20 years’ time? Ameena: Education is sadly a sector that progresses slowly. There have been changes overtime, but not at the same speed as the development of other sectors like technology. However, if I was to imagine education in the future, it would be a lot more focused on online learning.
The COVID-19 Pandemic accelerated the proliferation of tech-facilitated advances in almost every sector, with the education space being no exception, arguably leading the charge of this new wave. During the pandemic, advancements in Ed-tech effectively ensured the continuity of learning for people all over the globe. In this regard, Bahrain is no exception, with the start-up ecosystem being uniquely placed to support and facilitate the emergence of Ed-Tech start-ups such as Telp.
However as calls for the adoption of a more formalised form of online-education emerge, some questions concerning licensing parameters remain undecided. In 2021, a proposed piece of legislation endorsed by the Bahrain Education & Training Quality Authority received the nod from Bahrain’s lower bicameral. Whilst the said draft was not disclosed to the public, policy makers acquainted with the proposed law claim that ‘previously we didn’t acknowledge higher education certificates acquired by distant learning in entirety, but now as we govern it carefully, suitable systems would be recognised.’
What is clear is that whilst the technological and sociological advancements accelerated by the pandemic appear here to stay, to truly harness the benefits afforded by the augmentation of the Ed-tech space, further regulatory change and clarification is needed. By all signs, it appears that the competent authorities are mindful of this need, and that change continues to come.
For further information, please contact Rad El Treki, Hussain Osman or Yara Frotan.
Published in August 2022
Illustration of Confucius
