Egyptian Startup Farid Academy Expands to Saudi Arabia

Egyptian edtech startup, Farid Academy, has announced its expansion into Saudi Arabia, establishing a central operations office in Riyadh as part of its regional growth strategy. The move comes ahead of a planned seed funding round in Q4 2025, following a USD 250,000 pre-seed round raised last year. Founded in 2024 by entrepreneur Mahmoud Hussein, Farid Academy is the first platform in the Middle East and North Africa to provide live one-on-one sessions focused on mental health and personality development for Arab children aged 3 to 18. The company also offers certification programmes for youth and graduates to train as coaches using its proprietary educational and psychological framework. As part of its Saudi launch, Farid Academy has signed a three-year strategic partnership with the Amad Association for Human Capacity Development, valued at SAR 4.5 million (USD 1.3 million). The agreement will train and certify 500 Saudi university graduates for careers in coaching and development, while delivering specialised programmes to more than 4,000 children and adolescents. These programmes will focus on character building, critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The partnership will also roll out 48 training programmes and workshops and establish a monitoring framework to measure educational and social impact. Families will receive discounts of up to 25% on official programme fees to increase accessibility to premium educational services. This expansion marks Farid Academy’s first move outside Egypt, positioning Saudi Arabia as the second key market in its wider MENA strategy. The startup’s long-term plan, dubbed 'Farid 2030', aims to certify 10,000 trainers and reach 10 million children and youth across the Arab world with tailored personality development and mental wellness programmes.