Abwaab, a Jordan-based edtech platform serving secondary school students across the Middle East, has acquired Apex Education, a startup focused on elite global university admissions.
Founded in 2019, Apex focuses on high-end college admissions and advisory services, helping students and families navigate entry into some of the world’s most competitive institutions. The company was co-founded by Leila Hassan, Hussein Elkheshen, and Mohamed Ebied, and has built a reputation for deeply personalised, long-term guidance starting as early as middle school.
Since launch, Apex students have secured admissions to universities including Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, UChicago, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Imperial College London, UCL, and EPFL. Hassan will continue to lead Apex’s college admissions offering following the acquisition.
The deal allows Abwaab to integrate Apex’s admissions expertise into its tutoring and test preparation products, expanding beyond national curriculum support into international higher education pathways.
Abwaab was founded by Hamdi Tabbaa, alongside Sabri Hakim and Hussein AlSarabi in 2019. Tabbaa previously founded a supermarket chain in Jordan before leading Uber’s expansion across MENA.
The Jordan-headquartered edtech company provides curriculum-aligned online lessons, assessments, and progress-tracking tools for students up to 18 years old, positioning itself as a digital alternative to offline tutoring centres that dominate much of the region.
Abwaab has raised more than $30 million in funding to date. Its Series A round was completed in 2021 and led by BECO Capital, with participation from 4DX Ventures, GSV Ventures, and Watar Partners.
The company has since expanded across multiple markets including Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and previously acquired Pakistani edtech startup Edmatrix, though it has since exited the Pakistan market.
