---
title: "Why Wabona shut down"
description: "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."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/wabona"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/wabona.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/wabona/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why 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.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Wabona](/graveyard/wabona)

## Summary

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.

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.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | ShutDown |
| Primary cause | FundingRunway |
| Stage at shutdown | Seed |
| Lifespan in days | 1308 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product 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.

## Sources

- [Wabona shuts down](https://disrupt-africa.com/2015/08/05/wabona-shuts-down?ref=startupgraveyard.africa): Disrupt Africa
- [All news and updates about Wabona](https://www.techzim.co.zw/tag/wabona/): Techzim
- [African Streaming Bloodbath: Startups Fall Like Dominoes](https://launchbaseafrica.com/2024/05/21/an-enlarging-graveyard-of-video-streaming-startups-in-africa/): Launch Base Africa

## Related pages

- [Wabona alternatives](/wabona/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

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