Abdulkadir Suleiman Lapai, CEO of Tespire, is a serial entrepreneur who has failed fast forward to found an education technology (ed-tech) rapidly growing across northern Nigeria with an ambition to establish a presence across Nigeria and Africa. In this exclusive with Stephen Onyekwelu, he talks about his entrepreneurial journey and value creation along the education value chain. Excerpts:
Growing up in Northern Nigeria, what experiences shaped your passion for job creation and developing technology-driven solutions for education?
Growing up in Northern Nigeria, I was always crafty and entrepreneurial-driven. I remember taking on science projects I found in textbooks with no supervision, simply because I was driven to understand how things worked. That drive was paired with an entrepreneurial spirit—I always wanted to be able to afford my own wants without placing the burden on my dad.
For instance, I used to sell sweets and experimented with running a video game center where I charged my peers a small fee to play. These small settings taught me the value of self-reliance and business, even from a young age.
I also had a deep affinity for design. I’ve been sketching since I was a kid, which led me to focus on engineering and building drawings in secondary school. I still have those drawings with me, even after two decades. My dad recognized this passion early on and encouraged me to always aim for the stars. His belief in me has been a key motivator throughout my journey.
From early on, I recognized technology as the most efficient way to reach a large audience and solve big problems. Starting as a technical founder or software engineer, I saw firsthand how powerful technology could be. I remember the surge of Facebook’s growth, and I was curious about what was behind it. I conducted research and asked my lecturers and mentors for any materials I could read to better understand the tech world. Back then, the Internet wasn’t as accessible as it is today, but I spent countless nights in Internet cafes, spending my last card just to browse and learn.
I was fascinated by the potential of technology and got my first laptop from my dad in 2006. And a few months later during my time at university, I noticed the challenges students faced—long queues, the difficulties in traveling for POST-UTME exams to get into schools, and the inefficiencies in the education system. I thought to myself, “Why can’t technology solve these problems?” That was the moment I decided to dive into education technology, aiming to build solutions that could eliminate these inefficiencies and improve access to education.
Can you share a defining moment in your journey from founding JD Lab in 2016 to launching Tespire? What personal qualities have helped you drive innovation and growth in the EdTech space?
In 2016, I made the decision to leave my job at the university where I had done my undergraduate studies. At that point, I had already turned down a scholarship offer from the same university after graduating as the best student in 2011. By 2013, I had co-founded IT Baez, a company focused on digital skills training and software development services, so I had already gotten a taste of both public and private sector work.
It became clear to me that the public sector wasn’t where I wanted to be, but after resigning, I hit the lowest point of my life. I cried almost every night because I felt like no one understood what I was trying to accomplish. To keep my brain active, I enrolled myself in an MBA program, but financially, things were tough. I was married with a child and using my last savings to pay for an office. At that point, I had two choices: either return to public service or build the most formidable IT corporate venture out of Northern Nigeria.
I chose the latter. That’s how JD Lab was born. We had little to no resources, but we started building products and eventually launched an educational management and system app that we had originally created back in 2012. We experienced early successes and were on a steady trajectory to scale—then COVID-19 hit. The pandemic brought everything to a halt. We had to pivot and launch a few new products under JD Lab just to keep the business afloat and pay salaries. I lost all my savings in the process.
Another defining moment came when we realized that to survive, we needed to think globally. I had been privileged to have conversations with executives at Interswitch, as we had been working together since 2015. In 2019, I began looking at our solution with an exit strategy in mind—considering whether we could sell to a larger company.
However, after some cross-examination, it became clear that the system wasn’t built to scale. That’s when I discovered the Founder Institute and participated in its Abuja program, followed by its Global Funding Lab. It was during this time that we shifted our focus to creating something more scalable, and that’s how Tespire was born in 2021. We officially incorporated Tespire in the U.S. in 2022 and established our presence in Nigeria in 2023.
As an entrepreneur who has failed in two to three previous ventures like GoCashless, Rusticswish, and Netbuildr Africa, I learned early on the importance of resilience and adaptability. During my MBA studies, I developed a strong interest in microfinance and mastered the art of fundraising and managing investment portfolios. I also gained an understanding of how macro and microeconomic factors influence business success.
At JD Lab, I honed my skills in managing teams and aligning people with a shared vision, which proved to be essential when we transitioned to Tespire. The ability to pivot when necessary, combined with my background in technology, fundraising, and management, has helped me lead the innovation and growth of Tespire in the EdTech space. It’s been a journey of persistence, learning, and relentless effort, but every setback has only strengthened our resolve to build something that can truly transform education.
How has Tespire transformed from JD Lab into a startup focused on reducing revenue leakages in basic schools across Africa? What were the key turning points in this journey?
The transformation from JD Lab to Tespire was driven by a combination of market research and practical experience. In 2020, when we faced challenges during the pandemic, we took a look at our roadmap and product offerings. We realized that one of the most visible opportunities was in the education sector, particularly in private basic schools.
Everywhere we turned, we saw private schools, and there was already data out there indicating that over 30 million children were enrolled at the basic education level in Nigeria alone. It became clear that any solution targeting this vast number of students could have a significant impact.
During this time, we discovered that many schools were suffering from revenue leakages, particularly around fee collection and administrative inefficiencies. Our market research revealed that over 500 private basic schools were collectively losing close to ₦800 million annually due to these inefficiencies. This was a key turning point for us. We realized we needed to shift our focus to reducing these leakages while improving operational efficiency.
Additionally, my experience with investors and fundraising helped shape our approach to presenting these numbers and problems effectively. We decided to leverage technology to address these issues, focusing on data-driven solutions that could streamline all the solutions into a quick process, track student payments, and reduce unnecessary spending on things like printing and paperwork.
At this stage, I made a personal commitment to the venture, using my last savings and even selling a few assets to finance the development of our technology, which we rebuilt to better suit the needs of this new market. My education at the Founder Institute also played a critical role. Through the program, we learned how to better understand market dynamics and the importance of scalability.
As a Northern Nigerian startup, what unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered, particularly when expanding in semi-urban and urban areas like Niger, Kano, and Zamfara?
As a Northern Nigerian startup, one of the biggest challenges we’ve encountered is the lack of accessible data and market insights. Unlike more developed markets where you can easily find customer or market data, we had to be extremely resourceful and creative to gather relevant information for our customer development process. From day one, we realized that we were essentially building an ecosystem with limited resources.
Power issues in Niger were a major hurdle, along with the general lack of support from close associates, which is something many early-stage entrepreneurs can relate to. And, of course, there’s the perennial issue of capital. For a long time, we lacked the financial resources to experiment and validate ideas, so I had to focus on building things myself to prove the concept before it could start making sense to others.
On the customer side, we’ve also faced scepticism and a lack of trust in new technology products. Many schools and other potential clients are not problem-aware until you directly engage with them and show them how technology can solve their issues. This requires a lot of hand-holding and education, which can slow down the adoption process.
However, we’ve approached these markets strategically by entering through easy access points, where we can build social trust and relationships before scaling further. Establishing this trust is critical, especially in semi-urban and urban areas like Niger, Kano, and Zamfara, where technology adoption can be slow.
In terms of capital, until very recently, there were hardly any venture capital (VC) firms that understood or supported startups in the region. Between 2020 and 2022, our research revealed virtually no VC presence in Northern Nigeria. However, things have begun to change. I was fortunate enough to connect with Faruk Aliyu, who also hails from Niger State and founded AKH Capital, though it is globally positioned. Although they didn’t participate in our last financing round, we have been in touch since 2022.
It’s now encouraging to see more investors with a focus on Northern Nigeria and a better understanding of the local startup ecosystem, such as Aduna Capital, founded by Surayya Ahmad and Sanusi Ismaila, and another launched by Mal. Nasir El-Rufai, the former executive governor of Kaduna State. Between 2022 and 2023, I also co-founded Labspace in Niger State and Astound Innovation Hub in the city of Abuja, with the aim of educating more startup founders to learn venture-building skills so they can tap into these global opportunities.
Despite the challenges, the opportunities in Northern Nigeria are immense. With the right approach and the increasing support from local VC firms, there’s great potential for technology-driven solutions to make a lasting impact across the region.
With the current economic situation in Nigeria, how has Tespire managed to close its pre-seed rounds successfully? What advice would you give other startups navigating similar fundraising challenges?
At Tespire, we followed the fundamental rule: build relationships, strengthen network capital, and consistently send regular updates to keep stakeholders informed about our progress. We shared stories of our transition from one company to another, emphasizing how the work was being done in the background—just like Airbnb’s case, where one of their early finance rounds took over a year to materialised.
For us, we had started building momentum in late 2022 and early 2023, we had accelerator firms syndicate our deal and a few deal memos here and there. However, the macroeconomic challenges, particularly the dollar issues, led many globally inclined investors to lose confidence in the African startup scene, especially given the reputation that some African founders have gained for being wasteful and not revenue-oriented. This is where we decided to pivot and look inward by raising capital locally.
We found a gap and focused on educating conventional capital firms about venture debt-backed deals. From February to September 2024, we knew it was a “raise or die” situation, as we had relocated all team members to Abuja to increase efficiency and had already invested significant time in aligning our product line with the market.
Despite the challenges, we have had to be creative to keep funding the team with personal funds and a few we raised, and also by building trust and showing tangible progress, we were able to successfully raise the pre-seed round.
How does Tespire’s data-driven decision-making enhance the efficiency of basic schools? Can you provide an example of how this approach has addressed specific challenges for schools you’ve partnered with?
Tespire’s data-driven decision-making is still in the research and early phases, at the moment we are focused on tools or features that will allow basic school owners to make more informed decisions.
For example, we are developing tools that can help schools identify areas where students are consistently failing or struggling in specific subjects, as well as tracking deficiencies in particular topics. Additionally, we have provided insights into financial visuals by comparing fee collection trends across terms and sessions, helping schools understand whether their collections are improving or slowing down over time.
We’ve already implemented similar tools in tertiary schools, where we’ve started to provide financial reports and analytics to improve decision-making. On our end, we are studying transactional data—such as the prevalence of bank transfers through payment gateways, that way it can help our design team focus more on simplifying or reducing th steps it takes or the user experience for schools using Tespire’s wallet feature.
We expect to release our first comprehensive reports by the end of Q4 or early Q1 next year. These reports will offer valuable insights, not only for schools but also for government and large corporate entities, helping them make more informed decisions based on the data we gather.
How do you ensure that Tespire’s products—like Tespire Cloud, Tespire Wallet, and Tespire Extra—are tailored to meet the specific needs of schools in different regions of Nigeria? How do you plan to scale these solutions across the country?
For government-run basic schools, we understand the limitations posed by the Universal Basic Education Act, which mandates free education. As a result, we’ve had to be creative in developing solutions that do not contradict this law. Currently, we are exploring how we can leverage development partners to help deploy our solutions without placing financial burdens on government agencies or schools themselves. We’re piloting this approach with one of the states in Nigeria.
Additionally, some states choose to cover the costs for their students, allowing us to work within their allocated budgets. With all these factors in mind, we’ve developed a product line called Tespire Public, specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of the agencies responsible for public schools.
This solution allows them to manage everything from school operations and student records to results, exam certifications, and admission placements—essentially overseeing a student’s journey from entry to graduation.
For private schools, the process is more straightforward. They can simply sign up directly via the Tespire website or through one of our distribution partners, choosing the pricing plan that suits the size and needs of their school.
Our key value proposition is that Tespire helps schools generate more revenue, make better-informed decisions, and improve operational efficiency. We provide a freemium model that allows school owners and administrators to experience the benefits of our solutions first-hand, laying the foundation for long-term engagement and value.
When it comes to tertiary institutions, especially non-university schools, the adoption of our technology is often driven by their desire to minimize revenue leakages—a widespread issue. Our solutions are designed to address this directly, making it easier to onboard and provide value to these institutions.
You’ve established a presence in Niger State and are expanding to other Northern states. What’s your strategy for entering new markets across Africa, and how do you plan to navigate regulatory and cultural differences in these regions?
As I mentioned earlier, a key part of our strategy is extensive customer development research upfront. Recently, we established a dedicated Research and Development (R&D) team to focus on future initiatives, ensuring that we align our products and strategies based on our research outcomes. Most of what we’re doing now is a direct result of these research efforts.
Our team is currently based in Abuja, and from there, we are planning to scale globally. We’ve been engaging with scale-up ventures that already have a presence in other African countries, with the aim of leveraging their resources and networks. By collaborating with these local partners, we can better navigate the regulatory landscape and adapt our products to meet the specific cultural and operational needs of each market.
Tespire is committed to innovation and community empowerment. What role do AI and emerging technologies play in your plans to personalise and streamline educational management across Africa?
This year, we fully launched an affiliate program called Tespire Agent Xs. Through this program, we engage individuals who act as footsoldiers and help us work directly with schools that sign up on our platform. Essentially, they act as indirect employees who earn commissions as we serve these schools. The last time I checked, we had over 150 agents onboard across Nigeria.
As Tespire continues to evolve and grow rapidly, we are transitioning from being just an EdTech company to becoming a data-first company. In line with this vision, we plan to launch a platform for AI innovators, creating an ecosystem where various AI solutions can thrive.
Our goal is to build a robust platform that offers schools and educational institutions access to AI-driven innovations and tools that can streamline their management processes and enhance student outcomes because there isn’t sufficient data or the infrastructure to drive these processes. Ultimately, this will shape us into a more B2C-oriented company, playing a direct role in what the future classroom will look like across Africa.
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