Lebanon-based educational technology (edtech) platform Synkers, has secured a $1.8 million pre-Series A funding round, led by Lama and Dalia Al Sulaiman, with participation from 500 Startups, Phoenician Funds, ISME Kafalat, Mulcan Investment, Seeders, Crescent Capital and Dubai Angel Investors (DAI).

Founded in 2016 by Zeina Sultani (CMO) and Audrey Nakad (CEO), Synkers operates as an online marketplace for tutoring services, offering its users a personalised education experience by matching every learner with the right tutor or mentor. It also offers a wide variety of content, including school and university subjects as well as professional development courses.

The platform currently operates in the UAE and Lebanon and has more than 60,000 learners and 1000 tutors and mentors.

"No matter how hard the journey of an entrepreneur is, the impact of our work on our student's performance pays it all off completely,” said Nakad.

Synkers plans to use the investment to enhance its product offering, strengthen its presence in its existing markets and expand into new markets, specifically Saudi Arabia.

"We invested in the Synkers team and the founders behind the vision, as we strongly believe that they have the potential to disrupt the education industry," added one of the investors in the round who wished not to be named.