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Ghanaian startup Beavly, which provides an online marketplace connecting those that want to learn about a topic with top professionals, is set to expand to Ghana and Latin America after strong uptake and obtaining the support of Start-Up Chile.

Founded at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in Accra late last year, Beavly launched in Nigeria in February this year.

The startup is an online marketplace that connects people to top professionals to learn alongside them in their workplace. Trainees can gain practical knowledge and hands-on experience by interacting with the professional.

Beavly has proven so popular in its first few months in Nigeria that it has already started receiving and processing connection requests from trainees in Ghana as well. Chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder Ijeoma Oguegbu told Disrupt Africa the startup will as a result scale fully into the Ghanaian market in the next few months, while it is also studying various Latin American markets for opportunities having been selected for the renowned Start-Up Chile programme.

So how do you use Beavly? Well, say Bruce needs to advance his fashion design skills. On Beavly, he creates a profile, which allows the platform to match him with training offers from top fashion design professionals.

If the price or duration of an offer suits him, registration and payment is made through the platform. The professional gets a notification on their dashboard, and Bruce resumes training on the specified date. Beavly charges a commission on the transaction, with the startup planning to launch a subscription model shortly.

The platform has seen quick acceptance amongst Nigerians. Over 300 verified professional profiles are signed up, with 430 diverse programme listings. Beavly has processed, both offline and online, over 120 connections and has a trainee request waiting list of about 530. Oguegbu said the startup is working towards breaking even in December.

“We currently focus solely on making connections in fast-growing vocational industries, such hair styling, fashion design, beauty and makeup, catering and artisanry,” she said.

“We aim to be the go-to platform for self-empowerment and skills acquisition. Our mission is to help people harness their natural skills and transform them into businesses.”

Expansion is on the cards, and to achieve this Beavly is in the process of raising another round of seed investment to add to previous funding rounds from MEST and Start-Up Chile. Oguegbu believes the startup has identified a genuine gap in the market.

“In most African countries, informal training is predominant, with over 200 million Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 years. Yet this industry has seen no disruption for decades,” she said.

“Hence, training offers are often publicised through ineffective ways such as social media, newspapers and classifieds. There has been no dedicated web platform to facilitate this learning method.”

Beavly, then, is the first of its kind in Nigeria and Ghana, competing indirectly with generic classifieds websites such as Tonaton in Ghana and Jiji in Nigeria. Oguegbu said she is confident of success as the startup secures further funding and expands to new markets.

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