SchoolTry’s education software bet shows why African edtech may be finding stronger traction in higher education

African edtech has long been judged by its promise to transform K-12 classrooms. But SchoolTry’s story suggests that higher education may be where some startups find a clearer path to revenue.

In a Techpoint Africa feature on founder Ismail Eleburuike, the company says that within a year of deploying SchoolTry for higher education, it generated more revenue than it made in three years deploying the product for K-12. That is a striking signal for a sector that often struggles to balance social impact goals with commercial sustainability.

SchoolTry is described as building the operating system for African schools. That framing matters because it points to a category of software that sits at the center of school administration: admissions, communication, records, payments, and other operational workflows. In markets where institutions still rely on fragmented tools or manual processes, that kind of software can become sticky if it solves real administrative pain.

Why the higher-education segment may be different

K-12 and higher education are often grouped together in edtech conversations, but they behave very differently as markets.

K-12 sales can be slow, budget-constrained, and highly dependent on school owners or administrators making decisions with limited procurement capacity. Higher education institutions may still be bureaucratic, but they often have larger administrative needs, more complex workflows, and stronger incentives to digitize student operations.

That can translate into better willingness to pay for software that reduces manual work, improves record keeping, or supports student services. It can also mean clearer value for institutions that manage larger student populations and more formal administrative structures.

SchoolTry’s reported revenue difference is therefore not just a company milestone. It is a reminder that edtech business models in Africa may be more viable when they focus on institutional software rather than consumer-style classroom tools alone.

The operating system idea

Calling a product an “operating system” for schools is ambitious, but it reflects a common startup strategy: become the layer that connects multiple workflows instead of solving only one problem.

For schools and universities, that can mean a single platform for communication, student records, fees, scheduling, and administration. For the startup, it can mean deeper integration, higher switching costs, and more room to expand revenue over time.

The challenge is execution. Institutional software must be reliable, easy to use, and adaptable to local administrative realities. It also has to win trust from decision-makers who may be cautious about changing core systems.

Why this matters for African founders

SchoolTry’s experience points to a broader lesson for founders building in education, health, or other institutional sectors: the most visible market is not always the most commercially attractive one.

Many African startups begin with a broad mission to serve underserved users. But the path to sustainability often depends on finding the segment that can pay, adopt, and renew. In edtech, that may mean universities, colleges, training institutions, or private school networks rather than the entire K-12 market.

That does not make K-12 unimportant. It simply means founders need to be honest about where product-market fit is strongest and where revenue can support long-term growth.

What developers and founders should watch

• Institutional workflows: Software that reduces admin burden may outperform classroom-only tools.
• Segment economics: Higher education may offer stronger willingness to pay than K-12.
• Integration needs: School systems often need payments, records, communication, and reporting in one stack.
• Local customization: African institutions may require products that fit local processes, not imported assumptions.
• Retention and renewals: In institutional software, recurring use matters as much as initial adoption.

Why it matters

SchoolTry’s reported revenue shift is a useful signal for the region’s edtech ecosystem. It suggests that African education software may be moving away from purely mission-driven narratives toward more durable business models.

For investors, that means looking closely at which education segments actually pay. For founders, it means building products that solve administrative pain, not just classroom aspiration. And for software teams, it means designing systems that can handle the complexity of real institutions.

If the future of African edtech is going to be sustainable, it may look less like a single app for every learner and more like infrastructure for the institutions that serve them.

Sources

• Techpoint Africa feature: How Ismail Eleburuike is building the operating system for African schools with SchoolTry — https://techpoint.africa/feature/ismail-eleburuike-is-building-schooltry/