KUWAIT: Zain announces the signing of a strategic partnership with Baims, a leading Kuwait-based e-learning platform. The cooperation aims at empowering the digitalization of the local education sector, expand the youth’s digital upskilling and literacy, and provide students with the academic content and competencies essential to today’s market. The partnership was sealed at the Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC) in the company’s headquarters in Shuwaikh, attended by Chief Corporate Affairs and Relations Officer, Waleed Al-Khashti, Baims co-founder and CEO Yousef Al-Hussaini, and Zain’s Marketing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship teams.

Baims is a leading Kuwait-based digital e-learning platform that offers virtual courses to high school and university students in 5 MENA countries. The company is one of the top success stories of the Zain Great Idea tech startup accelerator program, and today’s announcement reflects Zain’s belief in the ability of local startups to compete in the market and contribute to the national economy. The partnership aims at empowering the digital transformation of the local education sector, where Zain’s vast expertise as a digital enabler and tech leader, combined with Baims’ virtual courses and wide set of education services are set to contribute to elevating the digital academic tools available to students across Kuwait.

Waleed Al-Khashti and Yousef Al-Hussaini seal the partnership.

This collaboration is also set to feature exclusive offers and special discounts to Zain customers on virtual courses and other services offered by Baims via specially tailored packages for the youth. Zain will also offer exclusive academic content on Baims covering topics related to innovation and entrepreneurship. Baims operates in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, and Turkey, and aims to digitize the offline tutoring experience by allowing students to learn at their own pace with video lectures, notes, live sessions, and quizzes that can be accessed on the web and mobile devices.

Last year, the platform recorded 30 million views, with 150,000+ active monthly users and 150,000+ recorded video courses on its huge library of academic content. Baims boasts 500 exclusive content creators and tutors and is considered one of the top 50 e-learning companies in the MENA region. Baims is one of the 10 Kuwait-based tech startups that participated in LEAP, the world’s biggest tech conference held earlier this year in Riyadh, attended by over 170,000 innovators, tech enthusiasts, investors, and visitors. LEAP was the second destination of the regional phase of the 7th Zain Great Idea (ZGI) tech startup accelerator program.

The conference presented an invaluable opportunity for Baims and other ZGI participants to learn new ideas, build partnerships, and connect with innovators and investors from the region and the world. Zain saw the need and ambition of Kuwait-based startups to expand into the MENA region and has selected this global event for its program’s second destination due to the Saudi market being one of the biggest and most vital of the region’s markets.

Saudi Arabia also presents a unique quality, sharing a close geographical proximity, culture, demographics, and target audience with Kuwait. This presented a great opportunity for ZGI participants to learn from the vast number of workshops, conferences, and shared experiences in LEAP, paving the way for them to prepare their regional expansion plans.