Koloso: The Zambian EdTech Startup Solving an African Problem
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges and innovations of Koloso, an EdTech startup in Zambia, aimed at improving education for children in overcrowded classrooms.
James found me online looking for fractional CTO services. That conversation eventually made me an investor. In this episode I sit down with all three co-founders of Koloso — James, Petra and Sowi — to talk about building a meaningful EdTech product in Zambia with limited capital, no technical background, and a problem that affects millions of children across Sub-Saharan Africa. **The problem:** Zambian classrooms regularly have 60 to 100 children and one teacher. Teachers have no reliable way to track who is keeping up or falling behind, and a mountain of admin on top. The slogans around leaving no child behind simply don't translate into classroom reality. **The product:** Children play a two-minute, ten-question quiz aligned to the Zambian national curriculum. Teachers get a real-time dashboard showing individual progress over time. Parents receive practical tips for reinforcing learning at home, in everyday Zambian contexts. Version two covers the entire teaching loop, from lesson planning through to compliance reporting. **The challenges:** Schools are cautious adopters. The "lazy teacher" objection was real and unexpected. Annual procurement cycles create brutal seasonal…
Topics covered
- EdTech
- Zambia
- AI development
- education challenges
- classroom management
Keywords
- EdTech
- Zambia
- AI
- education
- classroom
- children
- learning
- teachers
- technology
More episodes of Atom CTO Podcasts
- Find Joy in the Process - Ramit Mehta Trailer
- LLMs are the most overrated part of AI - Sanjay Rakshit
- Understand the Fundamentals - 5 Questions with Sanjay Rakshit
- Position Alone Doesn’t Give You Authority with Mateo Bervejillo
- Prepare for an emotional rollercoaster - Mateo Bervejillo Trailer
- Vibe Coding and Real World Problems: Why AI Still Needs a CTO
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Atom CTO Podcasts podcast page.