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Wednesday, 26 February 2025 15:52

$3.5m Nigerian tech startup ceases operation, returns capital to investors

$3.5m Nigerian tech startup ceases operation, returns capital to investors

After three years in operation, Nigerian education technology startup Edukoya has ended operations, saying poor infrastructure and economic challenges made it impossible to scale.

The startup which secured Africa’s largest pre-seed funding of $3.5 million in 2021, said it will return capital to investors rather than persist in what it described as an unsustainable market environment.

In a statement on Wednesday obtained by PUNCH Online, the startup said despite its early success, it faced fundamental adoption challenges, including limited internet penetration, high device costs, and declining disposable incomes that undermined its target audience’s ability to pay for digital education services.

Unveiled to revolutionise digital learning for K-12 (primary and secondary) students, Edukoya rapidly gained traction, onboarding over 80,000 students, facilitating millions of practice questions, and conducting thousands of live tutoring sessions.

After exploring strategic alternatives, including partnerships, mergers, and business model pivots, Edukoya found no viable path forward.

Part of the statement read, “Having explored various strategies to sustain operations—including partnerships, mergers, and business model shifts—without success, we’ve made the difficult decision to shut down and return capital to investors rather than exhaust resources in an unsupportive market.

“This strategic shutdown—though counterintuitive in a startup culture that emphasizes persistence at all costs—creates better outcomes for everyone: our investors can redeploy capital, our team can transition with dignity, and we preserve our vision’s integrity instead of compromising to survive.”

 

Edukoya’s shutdown highlights the broader struggles of Africa’s edtech sector, where startups face difficulties balancing innovation with the realities of infrastructure gaps and affordability constraints.

While digital learning remains a high-potential market, achieving large-scale adoption continues to be an uphill battle.

Edukoya expressed gratitude to its team, parents, students, and investors, stating that while its journey is ending, the insights gained could help pave the way for future innovations in African edtech—when the market is ready to support them.

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