• Beninese entrepreneur Rachid Ali Osinachi founded Steamy Academy, an edtech company that teaches science and digital skills to children.

• The startup has trained more than 10,000 learners and sold over 500 learning kits.

• Steamy plans to expand to Togo, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger by 2028.

Rachid Ali Osinachi  works as an industrial product designer and entrepreneur from Benin. He serves as chief executive officer of Steamy Academy, an education technology company that he founded with Térakh Sourokou, Gildas Chabi Chadrac and Maryam Ali Gadzama.

The company develops a comprehensive learning ecosystem that introduces children to science and digital technologies.

Osinachi launched the STEAMY project in 2016 when he began developing his first electronic board prototypes designed for teaching STEAM subjects—science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. At the same time, he organized training sessions and observed a strong demand for accessible and practical educational tools adapted to local realities. He described the problem in an interview with We Are Tech Africa.

“If you attended middle or high school here, you probably encountered physics or technology laboratories that were poorly equipped or not equipped at all, computer rooms without computers, or even the total absence of dedicated rooms due to the lack of budget to install such often very costly infrastructure.”

Steamy offers a progressive and hands-on learning pathway. Through Steamy Learn, the company’s e-learning platform, children gradually discover the fundamentals of science, electronics, robotics and digital technologies.

At the same time, STEAMY kits allow children as young as six to build, manipulate and test their own creations. The kits turn theoretical concepts into practical experiments. In addition, Steamy Events expands the learning ecosystem. Workshops, competitions and events encourage children to collaborate, develop creativity and tackle real-world challenges.

Steamy Academy emerged in 2025 from the Tech It All incubator, which Osinachi founded in 2020. The startup joined the second cohort of the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowshipin the same year. The company has already trained more than 10,000 learners and sold more than 500 educational kits. Steamy now plans to expand its activities to Togo, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger by 2028.

Alongside this venture, Osinachi co-founded Adiyeabain 2017, an agricultural technology startup specializing in smart and connected control systems. He served as chief technology officer at the company until 2020.

Osinachi graduated from École de design Nantes Atlantique, where he earned a master’s degree in digital design in 2025. Earlier in his career, he worked as project manager at WoeLab, a social and technological innovation lab based in Togo, between 2017 and 2019.

At the same time, he worked as a consultant at Blolab Bénin, a digital fabrication workshop, and as a 3D designer at Agence DYS, a digital marketing agency, between 2018 and 2020.

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum