How a Dubai student turned screen-time into scholarships

SECUREMYSCHOLARSHIP CO-FOUNDER SHARES ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNEY

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What if there was a way to keep students engaged in learning rather than being distracted by their smartphones?

This was the idea that came to Craig Fernandes, co-founder of SecureMyScholarship, an ed-tech platform offering students guaranteed tuition waivers and partial scholarships, when he was a student at Iowa University.

How it all started

Sitting in class, battling drowsiness, he noticed a pattern: Almost everyone around him was either glued to their phones or struggling to stay awake.

"I realised that phone addiction was a real problem, and I kept researching it," he recalls. He started brainstorming with friends an exchange of ideas that would ultimately lead to the success of his startups.

After returning from Iowa in May 2017, Fernandes didn't waste time. By September, at the age of 21, he launched his first company, Lock&Stock with 24 partner brands.

The 'keys' concept