Gathering with some of your classmates after school to better grasp a concept—often because the teacher couldn’t simplify the topic enough—is something many students might relate to. But what if you could do this online, and also have a skilled teacher leading your group? That’s the idea behind the edtech platform Noon Education (Noon).
“Noon puts students first and aims to create learning experiences that connect with, engage, and inspire students in many ways,” says Mohammed Aldhalaan co-founder and CEO of Noon. “Started in 2013, Noon grew from a strong belief in how education can change lives, and the need to use technology to close gaps in education. At Noon, we tackle the main problem of students not having access to great teachers, which we see as the most important part of learning.
Regular school systems often can’t give students teachers who can get them interested and excited in tough subjects. This hits close to home for us, as my co-founder and I faced this problem when we were in school. We want to solve this issue by using tech to link students with top-notch teachers so every student can do well in their studies.”
In just over ten years since its debut more than 14 million students (from kindergarten to Grade 12) in six countries across the Middle East and South Asia now use the Noon platform. It has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and Pakistan. The platform has taken extra steps to meet the different educational needs of each country where it operates. “Noon uses a mixed learning approach that blends in-person and remote learning experiences, all powered by our education platform,” Aldhalaan says.
“We offer two main things. First, we have Noon Online Courses – these are live online classes taught by top teachers in a way that gets students involved. These courses aim to help students get ready for big, life-changing exams and standard tests. Second, we have the Noon Hybrid Learning Experience. This includes a setup where students learn in groups in a very interactive way at Noon-linked schools, labs, and centers. Through the Noon Platform, these students connect with star teachers.”
One of the biggest benefits of edtech services is how they’ve made education available to more people. Noon wants to change education, so it’s made sure students in cities and rural areas can use its platform. Aldhalaan tells a story that shows how important this is to the company. It’s a story that’s really touched him and his team.
“A high school girl in a far-off part of Pakistan had a big problem. She couldn’t get to tutoring centers, which you need to do well on important tests there,” he says. “She was struggling and needed help so she sent us lots of emails. She asked us to add her province’s lessons to what we offer. At first, we didn’t think this was a top priority. But then our team saw something interesting. She had signed up as a teacher on our platform.
She was teaching younger students to help other girls in her area who also couldn’t get good school resources. Her hard work and dedication inspired us. Our team decided to do something amazing. They gave up their Eid holiday break to start our services in her province just a few weeks before her tests. This didn’t go unnoticed. Later, the Minister of Education in Saudi Arabia honored us for what we did. The girl’s hard work paid off. She did great on her tests and got into a good college to study what she wanted.”
All of Noon’s work to change how education looks has paid off for Aldhalaan and his team of 150 people so far. “Our money coming in has grown three times since 2021, and we keep seeing huge growth because people need good teaching,” Aldhalaan says.
“We’ve gotten $52 million from big funds and smart investors, with $41 million in a Series B round. With our income growing about 85% each year since 2021, we have a lot of room to grow and become worth a lot in the long run. We want to get big enough and run enough to list our company in a few years. We’ve taught 14 million students, worked with thousands of teachers and mentors, and plan to reach 120 million students in this area and beyond in the future.”
In reaching these impressive numbers, and in Aldhalaan’s aim for even higher goals, the CEO points out that Noon’s unique selling points deserve credit. The first of these key factors is Noon’s ability to mix online and traditional teaching methods in its hybrid education model. However, all of this growth has happened—and can keep growing—because of Noon’s focus on using the best technology available, Aldhalaan ads. “We’ve put a lot of money into our tech building a digital system that helps create personal and effective learning paths,” he explains.
“We’re also ready to ride the artificial intelligence (AI) wave, with all the needed systems and requirements already set up. Our big database of national curriculums, millions of students, and billions of learning activities make us even stronger. Plus, our large network of top teachers and partnerships with schools give us an edge over others. The market is huge, with Saudi Arabia alone worth $50 billion. Worldwide, it’s even bigger. Our recent move to hybrid learning has opened up these traditional markets helping us meet the big need for high-quality teaching. This gives Noon a real shot at becoming the region’s first decacorn—a private company worth more than $10 billion.”
To become a decacorn, Noon must first turn into a unicorn—a goal it’s working on through the Saudi Unicorns program. “Being part of the Saudi Unicorns program has changed Noon,” Aldhalaan says. “Working in a place that backs entrepreneurs and gives strong help has been key to our success. The program has linked us with fast-growing startups, investors, and important partners, which has been good for Noon’s growth. We were glad when the Minister of MCIT visited us; his time with us led to big partnerships. When he came, he praised our best teachers, which meant a lot to them, and backed our GenAI education plan. His support has made our brand stronger and spread our story making us more known in the field.”
Taking part in the Saudi Unicorns program has shown how Noon helps achieve the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals. “The vision aims to reform education, boost tech innovation, and involve the private sector. This matches what Noon wants to do and what we offer,” Aldhalaan says.
“Vision 2030 wants to get more kids into private schools. It plans to welcome a million more students to private education. It also wants to make education better. This has pushed us to grab this chance and play a part in changing how education works.” But don’t think Noon’s success and future plans came from smooth sailing. The company started in 2013, four years after the so-called “edtech boom” in 2009. Since then, it’s had its share of good and bad times in how people view edtech.
“Getting through the time after COVID-19 was one of the toughest parts of our startup journey at Noon,” Aldhalaan remembers. “The first big rush to learn online started to slow down, and we saw a big change in how people felt about online school. A lot of students and parents got tired of learning online and wanted to go back to regular school in person.
Still, this problem made us come up with new ideas, and we started our mix of online and in-person learning, which turned out to work well. This mixed way of learning takes the good parts of being able to reach more people online and getting people involved in person, and it fixes the problems you’d have if you did online or only did regular school. Also, being in Saudi Unicorns has helped us make our brand stronger and get noticed more in the market.”
As a result, Aldhalaan thinks this current model puts Noon in a good position to grow more. “When we think about what’s next, Noon is ready to make big moves to reach more people and do more,” the CEO says. “Noon’s mix of in-person and online learning can change and grow, which makes it a good fit to spread to other countries.
Right now though, we’re focused on starting our first full morning school program in Saudi Arabia this fall using our successful blend of in-person and online learning. This is a big step for us showing how we want to change education with new ideas. After we get this up and running, we plan to bring our mixed learning approach to more schools across Saudi Arabia and other places. We want to build a group of Noon schools that offer top-notch education with tech help education meeting the wide-ranging needs of students.”
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