One on One Educational Services Limited

What it is

Incorporated in 2013 and based in Kingston, Jamaica, One on One provides personalised online learning across the Caribbean and Latin American region. It runs a Learning Management System platform that serves governments, enterprises and individuals, and its products include One Academy — a teacher-support tool that addresses Jamaica’s teacher shortage — and an Educational Management Information System for students.

The company has scaled to reach more than two million learners across the Caribbean, providing K–12 students with tailored support in core subjects and offering corporations precision-driven workforce training. About 70% of revenue comes from government sources and 30% from the private sector.

Who owns it

One on One became the 100th listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on September 1, 2022, with an IPO of 380 million ordinary shares at JMD 1.00 (US$0.01)per share. That offer represented 20% of the business, meaning 80% stayed with existing shareholders before the float.

Ricardo D. Allen is the founder and CEO and was listed as a major shareholder at IPO.

The exact percentage he holds post-IPO is not disclosed in available sources; other named early backers included Michael Bernard (now Chairman), Douglas Orane and R. Danny Williams.

At listing, the company had 13,305 shareholders — the largest free-float shareholder count of any Junior Market company.

Who runs it

Ricardo D. Allen is President and CEO — a technologist with an Actuarial Science background from the University of the West Indies whose stated goal is to personalise knowledge acquisition using advanced statistical methods.

He gave up a Fulbright Scholarship to stay in Jamaica and build the company.

Michael Bernard serves as Chairman. A Chief Financial Officer is not disclosed in available sources.

The money, in plain words

For the year ended August 31, 2025, One on One posted an annual profit of JMD 85.9 million (~USD 0.55m), with revenue rising more than 20% to JMD 374.1 million (US$2 mn) — a dramatic recovery from a near-breakeven JMD 940,000 (US$6 k)profit in 2024 and a JMD 37.8 million (US$242 k) loss in 2023. Revenue grew 23.3% year-on-year (our calculation), and the company keeps about 23 cents of profit from every dollar of sales — a net profit margin of 23.0% (our calculation), striking for a small-cap tech company.

Direct costs actually fell 3% while gross profit rose 37% to JMD 276.65 million (US$2 mn), meaning the business is becoming more efficient as it adds customers rather than just growing costs alongside revenue — a gross margin of 73.9% (our calculation). Administrative expenses fell 13% and selling expenses fell 24%, underlining that the heavy investment phase is now behind it.

The one sharp concern: heavy capital spending combined with JMD 201 million (US$1 mn) in outstanding trade receivables forced the company to rely on a JMD 50.8 million (US$325 k) bank overdraft, leaving it with a negative net cash position; and 55% of those receivables — JMD 105.3 million (US$674 k) — were more than 91 days past due at August 31, 2025. In plain terms, the company is profitable on paper but customers are slow to pay, which squeezes the cash it actually holds.

What it is doing now

CEO Ricardo Allen has announced plans to acquire a US-based artificial intelligence firm to expand beyond education technology into any industry that can use AI to improve its processes, framing the goal as building “digital employees that augment human employees.” The company is also rolling out UnaAI, its own AI-powered system that lets teachers quickly generate lesson plans, handouts and assessments tailored to Jamaica’s curriculum.

One on One now provides online classes for over 250 schools, with growth driven by the expansion of One Academy, which delivers personalised educational solutions for schools, teachers and students across the Caribbean. It also has a partnership to implement national digital education systems in new markets and is already powering the digitalisation of the Bahamas education system.

What to watch

• Receivables collection. More than half of all money owed — JMD 105.3 million (US$674 k) — was over 91 days overdue at year-end. If those government and institutional clients do not pay, the strong headline profit evaporates into a cash crisis.
• The US AI acquisition. Allen has said the company is looking “very aggressively” at buying a US AI firm — a bold move for a company with a total market value of roughly USD 10.9 million (our calculation). Execution risk and financing terms will matter enormously.
• Dividend. Chairman Bernard said it is unlikely the company will pay a dividend in the near term, preferring to reinvest for sustainable growth first. The original IPO prospectus projected a 25% payout of net profits — investors will be watching when that promise is fulfilled.
• Geographic spread. Allen has deliberately kept expansion to one new country at a time, treating Jamaica and the Bahamas as templates before moving further. How quickly and cleanly those templates scale will determine whether revenue growth continues at its current pace.

This is news, not investment advice.