No premises to start
After-school and Saturday sessions run from partner venues while you prove demand.
Franchise opportunity · Exclusive local territoriesBUILD THE SCHOOL
FOR THE WORLD
THAT'S COMING.
Own and grow a Tycoon Academy territory in your area. Help young people learn how to think, build, sell, solve problems and use AI properly — while building a meaningful local business of your own.
Grades 6–9
The years that shape how they think
Up to 4
Locations inside one territory
8+
Schools and heads' conferences engaged
20+ yrs
Building and franchising businesses
Why this exists
A question I couldn't ignore.
I started Tycoon Academy because I'm a dad, and because I spend a lot of my working life in AI. That combination makes it very difficult to ignore what is coming.
I kept asking whether my own children were learning enough of what they would really need: taking an idea and making something of it, understanding money, selling, negotiating, recovering from failure, and working out what to do when there is no obvious answer.
I don't believe schools are failing. I believe they are being asked to adapt to a world changing at an extraordinary pace.
AI is part of the answer, but it cannot become the brain.
The child thinks first. They discuss, sketch, debate, interview, calculate, test and explain their reasoning. Technology comes in afterwards to help them move faster or do something they otherwise could not.
AI should amplify human thinking, not replace it.
The programme
Children learn by building things that matter.
Tycoon Academy is not a coding club, an AI class or business studies dressed up with new language. The children actually do things.
They identify real problems, develop ideas, test solutions, create products and services, speak to customers, learn how to price, understand costs, make sales, pitch ideas and work with other people.
Some ideas will work. Others will fail completely. Both outcomes are useful.
We want young people to leave with the quiet confidence that when they meet a problem they have never seen before, they can probably work it out.
The journey to ownership
Five steps from first enquiry to your first cohort.
The process is deliberately unhurried. Both sides need to be certain, because a territory is a long-term commitment to the young people in it.
01
Enquire
Send a short enquiry. No commitment, no pressure.
You know whether your area is still open.
02
Discovery call
A direct conversation about territory availability and what the business really involves.
A clear picture of the day-to-day reality.
03
Deep dive
The full model, the support, the operating rhythm, and time with the founder.
Enough detail to make a confident decision.
04
Territory agreement
Your area is formally reserved and protected, with room to grow across up to four locations.
The territory is yours to develop.
05
Launch
Facilitator training, marketing kit, platform access and your first after-school and Saturday cohorts.
A trading Academy with founder-led mentorship behind it.
Hands-on at first
Expect to be close to the programme early, then hand sessions to trained facilitators.
Local relationships
Your time goes into schools, parents and community, not classroom admin.
The franchise model
National ambition. Local ownership.
Parents should know who is behind their Academy. Schools should have someone they can speak to. Local businesses should be able to get involved. Children should meet entrepreneurs and mentors from their own community.
Exclusive territory
Develop Tycoon Academy in your own protected local area, with room to grow across up to four locations.
Start lean
No large permanent centre before you know where demand is. After-school and Saturday sessions come first.
Team, then scale
Be close to the programme early on. Trained facilitators take over sessions as you build the business.
A local business
The aim is not to buy yourself a teaching job. The aim is to build a real local education business.
“The children you teach this year will be the ones your town talks about in ten years' time.”
Why territory owners do this
Territories
One owner per area.
We are allocating founding territories across South Africa now. Each one is protected, and once it is taken it is gone.
- Somerset WestFounding territory
- Cape TownOpen
- Stellenbosch & WinelandsOpen
- JohannesburgOpen
- PretoriaOpen
- DurbanOpen
- Port ElizabethOpen
- BloemfonteinOpen
Not on the list? Tell us where you are — we open new territories where there is real demand.
Who we're looking for
You do not need to be a teacher.
What matters more than your previous job title is how you think. You need to be comfortable speaking to parents, building relationships, developing your local market and eventually leading a team.
- Entrepreneurs ready for their next venture
- Parents looking for a new chapter
- Experienced business leaders
- Commercially minded educators
- People leaving corporate life for something meaningful
What we provide
- The Tycoon Academy brand
- Programme framework
- Facilitator training
- Operating model
- Technology platform
- Marketing support
- Ongoing development
- Founder-led mentorship
You build the Academy in your area.
Founder, The Tycoon Academy
Credibility
Built on real work in education and business.
Tycoon Academy grew out of Sanusi, the education initiative I founded to explore how schools can respond to AI and prepare young people for a very different future.
My background is not primarily academic. I have spent more than two decades building businesses, working with entrepreneurs and helping franchise systems grow internationally across more than a dozen countries.
Education
- ISASA Heads Conference, South Africa
- ATS Zimbabwe Heads Conference
- St Peter's, Johannesburg
- Cornwall Hill College, Centurion
- Somerset College, Somerset West
- Somerset House, Somerset West
- The Bay Academy, Hout Bay
- Bridge House, Franschhoek
Business
- Great British Entrepreneur Awards Technology finalist
- Elite Business Top 100 Entrepreneur
- Groe Top 100 SMEs, twice
- Franchise Support Company of the Year 2024
Purpose and profit
A business with a reason to exist.
A business has to create value for people, and it has to generate enough money to survive, grow and keep creating that value. We teach the children exactly that.
A successful Tycoon Academy can employ more facilitators, open more locations and reach more young people. That is exactly what I want.
Next step
Check availability in your area.
If you look at what is happening with AI, work and education and feel the same sense of urgency, this may be the right business for you. Tell us where you are and we will come back to you personally.
Prefer email? franchise@tycoonacademy.co.za