By Oghenekevwe Kofi, Lagos, Nigeria
Between 2023 and 2024, Nigeria’s once-celebrated tech ecosystem was rocked by a wave of abrupt closures. More than a dozen high-profile startups across fintech, crypto, mobility, edtech and digital content either shut down or were quietly absorbed by larger entities. While failure is a natural part of any entrepreneurial cycle, the frequency, speed and scale of these collapses have raised alarm over the long-term viability of digital innovation in Africa’s largest economy.
A Perfect Storm: Funding Drought, Regulation and Economic Pressures
The crisis was not caused by a single factor but rather a convergence of several pressures. Investor confidence, once sky-high in Nigerian tech, declined sharply amid a global funding downturn. Compounding this were tightening regulations, currency volatility and an increasingly challenging macroeconomic climate.
Startups that had once symbolised the continent’s digital future found themselves unable to raise fresh capital or maintain viable operations. Many of the shutdowns were sudden, exposing the fragility of an ecosystem built on rapid scaling and investor optimism.
Funding Fatigue Hits Hard
The global tech slowdown that began in 2022 dealt a heavy blow to Nigerian startups. Early-stage companies found it harder to secure follow-on funding, and venture capital firms became more risk-averse. Lazerpay, a crypto payments startup, was among the first casualties, closing in April 2023 after failing to attract further investment. Zazuu, which targeted Africa’s cross-border remittance market, followed shortly after.
Even well-capitalised firms were not immune. Okra, a prominent open banking infrastructure provider that raised $16 million, shuttered operations in May 2025 after an ambitious—but ultimately unsuccessful—pivot to cloud services under a new venture, Nebula. It had hoped to compete locally with tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft, but soaring operational costs and intense global competition proved too much.
Regulatory Headwinds and Compliance Confusion
Tech innovators also ran afoul of an evolving regulatory landscape. In particular, fintech and crypto firms faced inconsistent guidelines, rising compliance costs and a lack of regulatory clarity. Thepeer, an API startup, shut its doors in April 2024, citing the growing complexity of compliance. BuyCoins Pro, a crypto platform, exited the market earlier that year under similar strain.
Gokada, once a standout in Nigeria’s mobility space, filed for bankruptcy in late 2024. After Lagos State banned commercial bike-hailing, the company attempted to reinvent itself in food delivery and logistics—an expensive transition that never gained sustainable traction.
Economic Turmoil and Currency Volatility
Wider economic pressures added to the headwinds. Spiralling inflation, a steep devaluation of the naira, and rising dollar-denominated expenses made operating in Nigeria increasingly unsustainable. Startups earning primarily in naira but paying for services in foreign currency found their margins vanishing.
Brass, a fintech catering to small businesses, shut down in 2024, citing surging operational costs. Even Okra’s Nebula project, designed to offer locally priced cloud computing alternatives, collapsed when global providers began offering competitive local pricing, undercutting domestic players.
Market Saturation and Internal Fractures
Some failures were due to more conventional issues. In fintech and edtech, market saturation made it hard for new entrants to differentiate. Pivo, a supply chain finance startup, shuttered in 2023 amid internal leadership disputes and a lack of growth in a crowded field.
Others, like e-book platform OkadaBooks and quiz-based edtech firm Quizac, succumbed to a lack of sustainable monetisation. Despite having loyal users, both platforms closed down in 2023 and 2024, respectively, after failing to build viable business models.
Mobility and Delivery Startups Lose Steam
The ride-hailing and delivery segments also saw notable exits. HerRyde, a women-focused ride service, folded in May 2024 due to low adoption and funding challenges. Food delivery app Chopnownow exited earlier in the same year, citing high customer acquisition costs. DropX, a logistics startup, also quietly wound down amid mounting capital shortfalls.
Lessons for the Future
The scale of the shutdowns has prompted serious introspection across Nigeria’s tech landscape. Founders, investors and policymakers alike are re-evaluating priorities. The high-burn, growth-at-all-costs playbook appears to be giving way to leaner, more sustainable business models.
Investors are shifting focus toward startups with clearer paths to profitability, stronger internal governance, and a realistic understanding of Nigeria’s economic and regulatory terrain.
Yet, amid the reckoning, some players have weathered the storm. Companies like Flutterwave, Moniepoint and PiggyVest continue to grow and expand beyond Nigeria’s borders, providing a model of resilience and operational discipline.
What Nigeria’s startup ecosystem faces is not an extinction event, but a painful evolution. The failures between 2023 and 2024 should serve less as a death knell and more as a wake-up call. For the country’s digital economy to thrive, it must now build on stronger fundamentals, regulatory collaboration and long-term strategic thinking.
