Founded by Danny Ombeh and Faruk Bilesanmi, Nigerian startup, Lena, is turning school curricula into immersive games in a bid to reshape how children learn foundational subjects.
Danny Ombeh and Faruk Bilesanmi initially connected through freelance work on Fiverr, collaborating on digital projects for clients in Nigeria and abroad. Like many young builders testing their skills in the global gig economy, they started by solving practical problems for clients.
But over time, their professional collaboration evolved into a deeper partnership centred on building startups.
“Faruk and I have been building together since 2020 when we started working on freelance projects for clients in Nigeria and abroad,” Ombeh recalls. “And over time, we became a lot more interested in startups and actually solving real problems.”
That shared ambition eventually led to Lena, an education technology startup that aims to help children master foundational subjects such as mathematics, literacy, and science through immersive digital games.
Rather than relying on video lessons or traditional quiz-based learning apps, the founders believe gaming offers a more powerful way to capture and sustain children’s attention.
The personal experiences behind Lena
The idea for Lena did not emerge from a formal brainstorming session but from a casual conversation about their families.
Both founders discovered that their mothers were teachers, giving them first-hand exposure to the realities of classrooms and the limitations of existing educational tools.
For Ombeh, the mission is deeply personal.
Growing up, he struggled to maintain focus in conventional classroom environments, often gravitating towards comic books rather than textbooks. His strong imagination, he says, made traditional teaching methods difficult to engage with, a challenge that later affected his studies in aerospace engineering.
Lena, he explains, is designed for children who learn differently.
“We felt it was important for us to solve for children like that because we were children like that. So we know the experience first-hand, and we’ve seen our mothers try and reach out to them, but the available tools fail to serve them,” Ombeh says.
Turning school curricula into games
Lena transforms school curricula into interactive digital games designed to keep children engaged for extended periods.
While many education platforms claim to be “gamified”, the founders argue that these products often amount to little more than quizzes layered with reward points or badges.
Lena takes a different approach by building fully immersive games where learning forms the core mechanics of gameplay.
Subjects such as mathematics, literacy, and science are embedded directly into game challenges and storylines. As children progress through levels, they encounter educational concepts naturally within the gaming environment.
The platform also incorporates an AI-driven learning engine trained on specific school curricula.
This system tracks each student’s progress in real time and identifies knowledge gaps. If a student struggles with a particular concept, the game pauses and provides a child-friendly explanation before allowing the player to continue.
Tools for teachers and schools
While Lena focuses heavily on student engagement, it also provides schools with administrative tools designed to improve teaching and assessment.
The platform includes a school management dashboard that enables teachers and administrators to track student performance through detailed analytics.
Educators can monitor learning progress, identify struggling students, and access insights that help tailor instruction to individual needs.
Lena also includes a Computer-Based Testing (CBT) system capable of automatically marking assessments, reducing the administrative workload often associated with grading.
Importantly, many of these features are designed to function with or without an internet connection, addressing one of the biggest infrastructure barriers facing schools across Nigeria and much of Africa.
Building offline AI infrastructure
Connectivity remains a major challenge for digital learning platforms in many parts of Africa, where stable broadband access cannot always be guaranteed.
Shortly after launching, the Lena team discovered that many schools interested in the platform faced intermittent internet connectivity.
To address this issue, the company is developing offline AI infrastructure that will allow the platform to function even in low-connectivity environments.
This approach could significantly expand Lena’s reach, particularly among lower-middle-income households and schools in underserved communities.
The platform also incorporates accessibility features, including text-to-speech tools and other assistive technologies designed to support children with disabilities.
A subscription model for schools and parents
Lena operates on a subscription-based business model targeting both schools and individual families.
Educational institutions are charged ₦20,000 per student per term, while parents who wish to use the platform at home pay ₦7,000 per month.
Recognising the economic diversity of the Nigerian education market, the founders say pricing remains flexible. Schools in lower-income areas can request customised pricing arrangements based on their financial circumstances.
The company is also exploring additional distribution channels, including a WhatsApp-based AI tutor designed to reach families without access to gaming devices or high-speed internet.
Early traction in a cautious edtech market
Since launching in September 2025, Lena has begun building early traction despite a challenging investment climate for education technology.
The startup has onboarded two schools representing approximately 380 students, with another seven schools currently in its sales pipeline.
On the direct-to-consumer side, Lena has attracted 228 parent subscribers, indicating growing interest from families seeking supplementary learning tools for their children.
While the business-to-business school model offers faster scaling potential, it also presents challenges.
Convincing school administrators to adopt new digital tools often involves lengthy sales cycles, high levels of trust, and navigating complex decision-making processes.
Despite these hurdles, Lena has secured $15,000 in grant funding and is currently closing an angel investment round.
Looking beyond Nigeria
Although Lena’s initial focus is on the Lagos market, the founders view the platform as a globally scalable product. They argue that gaming is a universal medium capable of engaging children across cultures.
The startup’s immediate roadmap includes expanding beyond Lagos into other parts of Nigeria before entering additional African markets such as Ghana and Liberia.
A key part of this expansion strategy is the continued development of offline AI capabilities, ensuring the platform remains accessible in regions where internet connectivity is unreliable.
For Ombeh and Bilesanmi, the long-term vision is to build an education platform that children genuinely enjoy using. If successful, Lena could help reshape how African children interact with learning, turning study time into an experience that feels less like a chore and more like play.
Talking Points
It is encouraging to see Lena exploring a gaming-first approach to education, particularly in a market where most edtech platforms still rely heavily on video lessons and quiz-based learning formats.
By turning school curricula into immersive games rather than simply adding game-like rewards to traditional lessons, Lena is attempting to address one of the most persistent challenges in education: sustaining children’s attention and engagement.
At Techparley, we see how platforms that prioritise engagement can play a significant role in improving foundational learning outcomes, especially in subjects such as mathematics, literacy, and science where early comprehension is critical.
The startup’s focus on offline AI infrastructure is particularly important in the African context. Internet connectivity remains inconsistent for many schools and households, so tools that can function without constant access to the internet are more likely to achieve widespread adoption.
As Lena continues to grow, partnerships with schools, education stakeholders, and technology providers could play a critical role in accelerating adoption and expanding access. If executed successfully, Lena’s gaming-based learning model could contribute to a broader shift in how digital education tools are designed for African learners.
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