Quizac

Gamified learning app.

🇳🇬 Nigeria EdTechAcquired and discontinued

Epitaph

“Here lies Quizac. It turned studying into a game for more than 12,000 learners across many subjects. Individual players never paid enough to win, and the funding to chase profitable corporate clients never came. Tekedia Capital claimed the high score a week later.”

Overview

Born: 2019 (Year)
Died: August 2024 (Month)
Lifespan: 6 years
Fate: Acquired and discontinued
Headquarters: 🇳🇬 Nigeria
Category: EdTech
Stage at death: Bootstrapped
Primary cause: Business model or unit economics
Contributing causes: Funding or runway

Death certificate

Timeline

2019Founded
Quizac founded by Tade Samson, Tobi Awogbemi, Hussein Alayo, and Babatunde Caleb as a gamified learning app
2021Corporate expansion
Expands into corporate training clients
August 2024Shutdown announced
Company announces it is shutting down after failing to monetize and raise funds
22 August 2024Acquired
Tekedia Capital acquires Quizac about a week after the shutdown announcement

Autopsy report

Why did Quizac shut down?

Quizac, a Nigerian gamified edtech app that reached over 12,000 learners, shut down in August 2024 after struggling to monetize its individual-learner audience and failing to secure funding, and was acquired by Tekedia Capital about a week later.

What Quizac attempted

A gamified edtech app helping learners study different subjects through game-based content built by a contributor network, later expanding into corporate training in 2021.

What worked

Attracted over 12,000 learners at its peak; expanded into corporate training clients in 2021, which the company found more profitable than individual learners; reportedly turned down a $250,000 funding offer earlier in its life.

Early warning signs

Persistent difficulty monetizing its core individual-learner audience despite user growth; unable to secure follow-on funding to scale.

What happened

Founded in 2019 by Tade Samson, Tobi Awogbemi, Hussein Alayo, and Babatunde Caleb, Quizac built a learner base of over 12,000 but could not turn that into sustainable revenue from individual users; after determining corporate clients were more profitable but failing to raise funding to pursue that pivot at scale, the company announced its shutdown in August 2024, and Tekedia Capital acquired it about a week later, on August 22, 2024.

Lessons for future builders

Free individual learners rarely convert into a business, even when they love the product. Identify who actually pays, often corporate buyers, early, and secure the funding or revenue to serve them before your consumer audience becomes a pure cost centre.