Matric Live, a South African study app for Grade 10 to 12 learners, says more than 3.5 million people have used it since 2020. Founder and chief executive Kagisho Masae shared the figure in an interview with IOL.
IOL reported that the figure does not separate downloads, registered users and active learners.
“Two township boys can set something up and then it reaches three-and-a-half million lives,” Masae told IOL.
Masae said he built the platform to help learners who study without extra support at home. “A lot of learning is lost between the classroom and home because not everyone can afford a private tutor, and not everyone has parents who can help with homework,” he said.
The app has four parts called Learn, Play, Exam and Ask AI. The Learn part uses short modules, quizzes and video lessons. Learners must pass a quiz before they move to the next section.
The Play part turns revision into a quiz game. Learners compete one-on-one or in teams, and the points count towards national and school leaderboards.
Masae said the Exam part draws on a database of more than 10,000 exam questions. Learners can create random mock exams with questions from different papers.
The Ask AI part lets learners type a question, draw a problem with a finger or upload a photo. A feature called Super Lesson builds an explanation from what the learner asks.
The platform is also built to cut data costs. Learners can bookmark content while on Wi-Fi and return to it offline. “You can go to a Wi-Fi hotspot, set everything up and then work through the journey offline,” Masae said.
Matric Live grew closer to the school system during the Covid-19 pandemic, when learners studied from home. The Department of Basic Education lists it as one of the digital platforms linked to its Woza Matrics programme.
Masae said the app already had about half a million learners at that time. “We needed each other,” he said.
He said the company gave the department regional insights from anonymised data. The data can show weaker results in a subject and province, such as mathematics in Mpumalanga or the Free State.
Masae worked in banking before he started the company. Investec sent him to the One Young World Summit in Canada as a delegate in 2016.
“Without the One Young World Summit in 2016, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have started the business, but I would have been slower,” he said.
Cape Town was named host city of the 2026 summit during the 2025 event in Munich, Germany.
Masae said he wants the platform to help the so-called missing middle. These are households that earn too much for National Student Financial Aid Scheme funding but cannot easily afford tertiary study.
He said Matric Live plans to use long-term learner data to connect pupils with post-school opportunities and possible financial support.
“We want to not just help you pass matric, but actually give you alternative pathways to becoming an economically active citizen rather than sitting unemployed,” he said.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Technology. Image: IOL Technology. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.