Wabona

African video streaming service.

🇿🇦 South Africa Media & EntertainmentShut down

Epitaph

“Here lies Wabona. A pan-African video-on-demand service, it carried African film and TV, moving from pay-per-view to subscriptions. The founders couldn't raise the next round in a market shifting faster than they could, and closed within days. Refunds issued; no second season.”

Overview

Born: 2012 (Year)
Died: August 2015 (Month)
Lifespan: 4 years
Fate: Shut down
Headquarters: 🇿🇦 South Africa
Category: Media & Entertainment
Stage at death: Seed
Primary cause: Funding or runway
Contributing causes: Competition, Business model or unit economics

Death certificate

Timeline

2012Wabona founded
Founded in South Africa by Zimbabwean entrepreneurs Simbarashe Mabasha and Simukayi Mukuna
2012Beta launch and 88mph accelerator
Launches in beta with a pay-per-view model and joins the 88mph startup incubator
2013Shifts to subscription model
Moves from pay-per-view to monthly subscription and expands content library
August 2015Shutdown announced
Co-founders announce closure citing inability to raise follow-on funding amid a fast-changing VOD market

Autopsy report

Why did Wabona shut down?

Wabona, a South African-based pan-African video-on-demand service founded by Zimbabwean entrepreneurs Simbarashe Mabasha and Simukayi Mukuna, shut down at the end of July/early August 2015 after the founders failed to raise follow-on funding in a rapidly changing and oversaturated VOD market.

What Wabona attempted

Wabona set out to be a subscription video-on-demand platform for African film and television content, aiming to bring Afrocentric content to global audiences; it initially used a pay-per-view model before shifting to monthly subscriptions.

What worked

The team was accepted into the 88mph startup accelerator in South Africa, built out a growing content library, and evolved its pricing from pay-per-view to a subscription model.

Early warning signs

Co-founders publicly stated they could not raise follow-on funding and described the African VOD market as changing too fast to keep up with, shortly before announcing they would close within days.

What happened

Founded in 2012 by Simbarashe Mabasha and Simukayi Mukuna, Wabona launched in beta, joined the 88mph incubator, and tested pay-per-view before moving to subscriptions and expanding its content catalog. Unable to secure follow-on funding as the African VOD market rapidly changed and grew crowded with rivals, the founders announced closure around the end of July 2015, shut the site down, and issued refunds shortly after.

Lessons for future builders

In a fast-moving, crowded market, an underfunded player runs out of room before it finds its footing. Line up follow-on capital ahead of the crunch and pick a defensible niche, rather than competing broadly on content everyone else is also buying.