Nigerian Edtech Startup Edukoya Shuts Down

Nigerian edtech startup Edukoya, founded by serial entrepreneur Honey Ogundeyi in May 2021, has made headlines by shutting down its core operations as it shifts focus toward new business avenues.

The company, which once sought to revolutionize K–12 education in Africa by offering digital content, live tutoring, and interactive learning tools, announced its decision in February. Facing persistent challenges, including limited market readiness, connectivity issues, and broader macroeconomic constraints made it difficult for the company to convert its freemium user base into paying customers.

In December 2021, Edukoya secured a $3.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Target Global, marking one of the largest early-stage investments in Africa’s edtech sector at the time. The platform quickly gained traction, onboarding over 80,000 students, facilitating more than 15 million answered questions, and conducting thousands of daily live classes. “Even the most brilliant students can be let down by the system,” Ogundeyi remarked, reflecting on the harsh realities that led to the shutdown.

Edukoya’s core service was to connect African learners with quality educational content and on‑demand teachers. The platform’s synchronous learning model allowed students to join live classes, interact with expert tutors, and access curated learning materials designed to prepare them for school and university entrance exams.

Prior to the shutdown, Edukoya explored  partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and business model pivots. Reports also indicated internal adjustments, such as layoffs and the closure of its physical office over six months before the announcement. After exploring various strategic alternatives, Edukoya’s management made the difficult but, in their view, necessary decision to shut down operations rather than deplete resources further.

Even though Edukoya had a user base and had incorporated artificial intelligence into its product, it ultimately concluded that closing and giving back funds was the wisest course of action. “Rather than deplete resources chasing scale in a challenging market, we opted to return investor capital,” the company explained in its final statement.

Rumors had swirled about Edukoya’s potential pivot towards fintech specifically through a separate initiative known as the “Koya App,” aimed at instilling financial literacy and savings habits in children. However, Edukoya was quick to clarify that this was not a pivot of the core edtech business but rather a distinct venture.