Dakar, Senegal & Dubai, UAE - Jan 12, 2026

Many families in Senegal spend significant sums each year on school textbooks that are often unused after a single school year. At the same time, thousands of students remain without basic textbooks. With 9,977 primary and secondary schools nationwide, the inefficiency and cost of textbook distribution represents both a social and market opportunity for digital solutions that connect sellers and buyers locally.

What the Startup Delivers? 

Livrebi is a mobile marketplace that enables parents and secondary students to sell, buy or donate second‑hand school textbooks within the same school or municipality. Sellers register with a name and address, upload a photo, set a price, and buyers browse available books and order directly. LIVREBI’s simple transaction model includes a fixed 250 CFA francs commission per sale, keeping prices accessible while creating a revenue stream for platform sustainability.

Why Now?

Rising education costs and limited textbook access make a peer‑to‑peer resale model timely. Digital adoption in urban and peri‑urban communities, combined with growing mobile penetration, creates a practical channel to match surplus textbooks with unmet demand reducing waste and expanding access at lower cost.

Program Plan (first 30–60 days)

Through EquityPilot, LIVREBI will refine its product experience, strengthen onboarding flows for sellers and buyers, and pilot targeted outreach in several Dakar municipalities. Program support will focus on execution milestones, product-market fit, and connecting LIVREBI to education stakeholders and local parent groups. This stage does not constitute funding guarantees but prioritizes rapid, measurable progress.

Proof and Customer Validation LIVREBI has defined a clear market: parents, students and donors within primary and secondary schools. Early user feedback includes a parent testimonial: “livrebi is economical for the parent and enriching for the child”  Moussa Sabaly. The team targets 100,000 customers within three years as part of its growth ambitions and is seeking staged funding to support development and promotion.

Competitive landscape Current competition is largely limited to publishers selling new textbooks (for example, Edukos). LIVREBI competes on price and convenience, enabling lower‑cost second‑hand options and localized transactions that publishers do not address.

Founder background

LIVREBI was co‑founded by Famata Tédy Baldé, who serves as monitoring and evaluation manager at Grand Mother Project, and Ibrahima Diao, a law teacher at Machalla High School in Dakar. Their combined education and community experience informs the product’s school‑centric approach.

Leadership Comment

Hesham Zreik, Founder and CEO of FasterCapital, said: ‘We’re excited to support LIVREBI through EquityPilot. Our team will focus on execution milestones and connecting the startup with the right ecosystem stakeholders.’

Next 90 Days

LIVREBI will complete an MVP release, run localized pilots with parent groups and select schools, iterate on user onboarding and payments, and prepare a go‑to‑market campaign to expand municipal coverage. The team will also refine unit economics and user support processes in preparation for wider rollout.

About LIVREBI

LIVREBI is a mobile platform that connects parents and students in the same school or municipality to buy, sell or donate second‑hand textbooks. By lowering textbook costs and facilitating local exchanges, LIVREBI aims to reduce waste and expand equitable access to learning materials across Senegal.

About FasterCapital

FasterCapital supports startups globally by providing execution‑focused support, fundraising readiness guidance, and access to an ecosystem of mentors, partners, and investors. Through programs such as EquityPilot, FasterCapital helps founders strengthen strategy, refine materials, and accelerate progress toward measurable milestones. Learn more at FasterCapital.