Startup shuts down despite raising $3.5 million

Edukoya, a Nigerian edtech startup, has officially shut down its operations despite raising $3.5 million pre-seed in 2021.

The company announced its decision in a statement to stakeholders, citing macroeconomic challenges that made mass-market adoption difficult, according to Techpoint.

It pointed to market readiness, widespread connectivity issues, limited access to devices, and low disposable income as key barriers to its growth.

Edukoya secured $3.5 million in pre-seed funding when it was founded in 2021, marking the largest raise of its kind in Africa at the time.

The startup set out to redefine online K-12 learning in Africa by providing digital education content and online tutoring for students and parents.

However, the company ultimately concluded that it was ahead of its time and opted to wind down operations, returning capital to investors.

Honey Ogundeyi, Edukoya’s founder, had previously highlighted stark contrasts between Nigeria’s education system and that of the West.

Read also:  African startups raise $2.2bn in 2024

“Even the most brilliant students can be let down by the system,” she once said in an interview.

In its email to stakeholders, Edukoya emphasised the progress it had made in reshaping online learning:

“We achieved significant impact: over 80,000 students used our platform, more than 15 million questions were answered, and thousands of daily live classes were conducted.”

Despite building a substantial user base and integrating artificial intelligence into its product, the company determined that shutting down and returning capital was the best course of action.

Edukoya explained that it chose to wind down operations “rather than deplete resources chasing scale in a challenging market.”

The startup, which operated for nearly three years, explored partnerships, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and business model pivots before making its final decision.