The Noon story: an idea nobody paid a riyal for, and today millions of students | Noon Academy
The story of Noon Academy: from a private tutoring site nobody subscribed to, to a group study platform that says it has more than 14 million students.
Opens on YouTubeNarrated in Arabic. The full English transcript is below.
Full film transcript
The first company they started failed.
And the second idea? Nobody paid a single riyal for it.
In 2013, Mohammed Aldhalaan and Dr. Abdulaziz AlSaeed launched a platform called Noon.
A private tutoring site with a paid subscription.
But students didn't subscribe. So they decided to make it free.
And in a single semester, 100,000 students showed up.
They added a button called Fazaa, which means “lend a hand.” You press it, a teacher shows up, for less than a riyal a minute.
In 2017, studying became a group activity: you study with your friends, and you compete.
Because the founder says the biggest problem in studying isn't understanding. It's boredom.
During COVID, the number of users doubled, and Noon reached Egypt, India, and Pakistan.
In 2023, it raised 153 million riyals, led by Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures and Raed Ventures.
Today, Noon says it has more than 14 million students.
Valuation? Undisclosed.
The lesson for you as a founder: if people aren't paying, the problem may be how you sell, not the idea.
Follow us at Saudi Founders.
Detailed figures and sources are in the Noon Academy profile in the directory.
