NewStats: 3,263,955 , 8,182,079 topics. Date: Monday, 09 June 2025 at 03:13 AM 18512i

$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 unive 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 them.

https://punchng.com/3-5m-nigerian-tech-startup-ceases-operation-returns-capital-to-investors/

First to comment this year.

Mr. Seun, oya I want to make a wish oo.

I want you to finance the conversation of my transport car from petrol to gas.

All thanks to Tinubu.

Jagaba na ur mate? The undertaker of Nigerian economy
The magician and master strategist is doing wonders by wrecking our lives.

To you who want to learn a tech job just for the purpose of answering yes sir/ma as an employee...tech is overated and saturated..

To you who want to learn it to become an entrepreneur, employer of labour..tech is worth it but ur eyes go see pepper before u scale tru.

To us who are into traditional mode of business as a business man and woman, we re jealous of tech guys because we re ungrateful..because we may decide to work for just three days in a month and stay indoors for good 27days but still the money keep piling up.


Make everybody carry hin mama br3ast abeg

Wetin be this again

In a country where basic schools are been forcefully shut down because of islamic fasting what do you expect

Of cause eduTech will definitely fall

nlfpmod:


https://punchng.com/3-5m-nigerian-tech-startup-ceases-operation-returns-capital-to-investors/

Na wa

Sad development...Running a business in Nigeria is hellish.

Unfavourable clime is bad for businesses. You'd expect our population to be useful for businesses, but it's wrong. Only few businesses can survive our inadequacy in financial firepower, inexposure, poverty, irrational decisions... and so on.
It's extremely difficult for our society to embrace tech when they are not even inclined towards it. Stuffs like "special centres" and ill-managed private schools around, alongside the rampand ill-will for education in Nigeria makes it difficult for people to patronize ventures like this.

I feel they could have didn't better though, like with more ment out there about what they do, and an incessant push to make it continental, then global. The long-term game could favor them. Left to early.

Lols

Smart guys, so are they returning investors money with interest on it abi just the capital?

Hmmm.... Nigeria makes you doubt every theory and the policy implications in the book!

Money laundering.

Youth of nowadays are no longer interested in this kind of technology. They'd rather spend time on tiktok and other unproductive ventures.

I knew they were never going to last long. Many more will still crash down.

Why not Iwekoya? They would come back with time

PopQueenAgency:
Money laundering.

Hahahahahahahaha

Yet some brain dead people still praises Tinibu to the high heavens over his non working policies

Ok

Lol. In a market where many academicians rate themselves on failure rate of courses they anchor. Reality check.

Oh mehn. Reaching this point must have taken so much energy.

I never hear this name before.

You just can't survive in this hostile environment

Emeskhalifa:
Lols

Smart guys, so are they returning investors money with interest on it abi just the capital?

After dem don use the money do their own personal business don make double profit wan come return money, na if the investors mumu sha

Shege promax zombies will insult him..and praise there drug lord

Oluwaseunomo:

After dem don use the money do their own personal business don make double profit wan come return money, na if the investors mumu sha

Stop speculating. People are trying to stay afloat and ave less money to spend on education.

BabaCommander:
All thanks to Tinubu.

Jagaba na ur mate? The undertaker of Nigerian economy
The magician and master strategist is doing wonders by wrecking our lives.

My brother, this man is just killing lives like kilode

BAT is working the economy is improving... Gullible and brainless miscreants

Good to note. Thanks to Tinubu who has kílled start-ups.

APC will damage this country.

nlfpmod:


https://punchng.com/3-5m-nigerian-tech-startup-ceases-operation-returns-capital-to-investors/

So painful..