About Lerato
Building Technology from Lived Experience.
Lerato Mokalapa is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of eduSYMS, an African EdTech company developing enterprise technology that enables educational institutions and skills-development providers to digitise learning, administration, compliance, assessments and student management through one integrated platform.
Her story is defined by a consistent pattern: seeing structural problems, understanding how they affect people and organisations, and then building systems designed to work in the environments where they are needed most.
The Origin
The Problem Became Personal Before It Became Professional
Growing up in a rural community in South Africa, Lerato saw the educational inequalities created by limited infrastructure, poor connectivity and fragmented administrative systems.
For many institutions, digital transformation is discussed as a question of innovation. In communities with constrained resources, however, it is also a question of access, resilience and opportunity.
Those experiences shaped Lerato’s conviction that institutions should not have to choose between world-class capability and the realities of their environment. Technology should adapt to those realities.
That conviction now sits at the centre of eduSYMS’ product and growth vision.
Multidisciplinary Leadership
Law. Engineering. Business. Technology.
Lerato brings an unusual combination of disciplines to leadership.
With a background in Law (LLB) and Electrical Engineering (N6), she combines legal, business and technical thinking to guide eduSYMS’ strategic growth, commercial partnerships, fundraising, governance and product vision.
Before co-founding eduSYMS, she established and managed Bright Index Collection, a debt-collection and business-administration company. That experience developed her grounding in operations, compliance, financial management and client relationship management — disciplines that continue to inform the way she approaches enterprise technology today.
Areas of expertise
- EdTech Innovation
- Digital Transformation Strategy
- Business Development
- Enterprise SaaS
- Fundraising & Investor Relations
- Strategic Partnerships
- Corporate Governance & Compliance
- Product Strategy
- Market Expansion Across Africa
- Entrepreneurship & Leadership
The Builder
From Startup to Enterprise Technology Company
Under Lerato’s leadership, eduSYMS has grown from an early-stage startup into a fast-growing enterprise technology company serving educational institutions, professional bodies and skills-development organisations.
The company currently serves clients in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and United Kingdom, while preparing for broader expansion into West and East Africa.
Lerato has helped lead strategic partnerships with organisations including SAGMA, NCM, colleges, schools and skills-development providers.
Her objective is not merely to expand a software company. It is to help establish a digital education ecosystem capable of serving institutions across multiple markets while remaining accessible to organisations operating under very different infrastructure and resource conditions.
Markets served
- South Africa
- Namibia
- Zimbabwe
- United Kingdom
Preparing for expansion into West Africa and East Africa.
What Drives Her
Technology Should Expand Opportunity
Lerato is passionate about using technology to create equal educational opportunities, empower institutions, strengthen compliance and prepare Africa’s learners and workforce for the digital economy.
She believes that quality education should never be limited by geography or internet connectivity — and that the platforms built for Africa must reflect the continent’s realities, ambitions and scale.