---
title: "Why Showroom.ng shut down"
description: "Showroom.ng, a Lagos furniture marketplace founded by ex-Konga staffer Sheriff Shittu that raised a seven-figure seed round in December 2014, shut down at the end of August 2016 after less than two years. The founder attributed the failure to poor execution rather than the wrong market or product."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/showroom-ng"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/showroom-ng.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/showroom-ng/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why Showroom.ng shut down

Showroom.ng, a Lagos furniture marketplace founded by ex-Konga staffer Sheriff Shittu that raised a seven-figure seed round in December 2014, shut down at the end of August 2016 after less than two years. The founder attributed the failure to poor execution rather than the wrong market or product.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Showroom.ng](/graveyard/showroom-ng)

## Summary

Here lies Showroom.ng. It connected Nigerian furniture makers with buyers for a commission. A seven-figure seed came in, but a thin team and slow execution undid it in under two years. The pieces never fit together.

Showroom.ng, a Lagos furniture marketplace founded by ex-Konga staffer Sheriff Shittu that raised a seven-figure seed round in December 2014, shut down at the end of August 2016 after less than two years. The founder attributed the failure to poor execution rather than the wrong market or product.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | ShutDown |
| Primary cause | Execution |
| Stage at shutdown | Seed |
| Lifespan in days | 943 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product attempted

Showroom.ng was an online marketplace connecting Nigerian furniture makers and carpenters with buyers, taking a commission on sales, with an ambition to help up to 100,000 carpenters build wealth by 2020.

## What worked

Secured a seven-figure seed round in December 2014, and founder Sheriff Shittu said the business performed "fairly well" for a period before problems compounded.

## Early warning signs

Shittu cited weak domain expertise, slow execution, an inadequately skilled team, insufficient capitalization, and poor decision-making as issues that built up before "everything started crashing."

## What happened

After raising seed funding in December 2014 and building a commission-based furniture marketplace, Showroom.ng grew for a period but was undermined by team and execution problems; founder Sheriff Shittu announced the company's closure at the end of August 2016, listing a dozen reasons rooted in poor execution.

## Sources

- [Nigerian furniture marketplace Showroom.ng to close](https://disrupt-africa.com/2016/08/25/nigerian-furniture-marketplace-showroom-ng-to-close?ref=startupgraveyard.africa): Disrupt Africa
- [Showroom.ng, Sheriff Shittu's online furniture marketplace is closing shop this month](https://techcabal.com/2016/08/24/showroom-shutdown/): TechCabal
- [Showroom.ng's ambition to furnish Nigerian homes and make 100k carpenters millionaires by 2020](https://techpoint.africa/feature/how-showroom-ng-plans-to-make-at-least-100k-furniture-makers-millionaires-by-2020/): Techpoint Africa

## Related pages

- [Showroom.ng alternatives](/showroom-ng/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/graveyard/showroom-ng)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)