Our Story

Ever had to watch your mum cry because you are about to lose your place in university and she cannot make the required fees payment by the due date? Well Terrence went through this, but fortunately, he did not end up losing his place after all by some miracle. The experience left a lasting impression on him, and from that day he promised himself he was not going to let his parents go through this again. Boy did he work! It was at this point that Terrence decided he was going to do everything in his power to make sure many people would not have to go through what he had gone through. Two degrees later, Terrence returned to Zimbabwe where he met Gerald through his wife and they immediately connected due to their passion for entrepreneurship, young people and humanity! At the time Terrence and Gerald met, they were both Corporate Financiers working for different advisory companies in two different cities. They eventually changed companies remained in touch and after some time, Gerald moved to the same city as Terrence to pursue greener pastures – this was going to lead to the beginning of a new journey for both these gentlemen…

Terrence; with a passion for education, having lectured and tutored at Rhodes University during his student days there, joined a financial institution where he along with his immediate Manager came up with a product that was going to revolutionize school fees payments in Zimbabwe forever. Gerald; with a passion for Entrepreneurship, access to investors and a sibling studying towards her Masters in Architectural studies at a foreign university, understood the model well and immediately caught onto the vision Terrence had. He proposed that they set up a fund which was specific to funding, empowering and enabling students to pursue their academic dreams in a way that would allow their parents to have a structured way of making school fees payments.

Gerald convinced Terrence it was time to launch Educate by showing up at his doorstep with the completed company papers and requesting Terrence to sign on the dotted line. Thus Educate was born.

Given their diverse experience and mutual passion, they immediately got to work articulating their vision, engaging relevant stakeholders, identifying potential partners and building a sustainable model that would outlive them. With the company established, they needed to ensure that they partnered the right financial and technical investor who not only understood that the vision went beyond just making a profit, but that the vision contributed to transforming education in Zimbabwe and in the process; the economy.

So they shared their idea with Tommy Deuschle from Emerging Ideas who instantly got it, and the rest is history.