SchoolTry’s pivot shows where African edtech can actually make money: higher education

African edtech has long been sold on the size of the opportunity: millions of students, under-digitized schools, and a growing appetite for software that can manage admissions, fees, records, communication, and learning. But SchoolTry’s experience suggests that the path to sustainable revenue may not run through the same segment that first attracts founders.

In a feature published by Techpoint Africa, SchoolTry founder Ismail Eleburuike describes building what he sees as an operating system for African schools. The most striking detail in the story is commercial rather than technical: within a year of deploying SchoolTry for higher education, the startup generated more revenue than it made in three years deploying the product for K-12.

That contrast matters because it captures one of the hardest truths in African edtech: the market is large, but not every part of it pays in the same way. K-12 schools often have tighter budgets, slower purchasing cycles, and more fragmented decision-making. Higher-education institutions, by contrast, can have more formal administrative structures and clearer demand for systems that centralize student data, payments, and operations.

Why this shift matters

For founders, the SchoolTry story is a reminder that product-market fit is only half the battle. Revenue fit matters too.

A school software platform can solve real operational pain and still struggle to scale if the buyer is underfunded or if implementation requires too much hand-holding. A higher-education deployment may be more attractive not because the product is radically different, but because the customer’s willingness and ability to pay is stronger.

That does not mean K-12 is a dead market. It means founders may need to be more deliberate about where they start, how they price, and which workflows they prioritize. In many African markets, the most durable edtech businesses are likely to be those that align product complexity with institutional capacity.

SchoolTry’s positioning as an “operating system” for schools is also notable. The phrase signals a move beyond single-use tools such as attendance apps or fee collection dashboards. If a platform can become the system of record for admissions, billing, communication, and academic administration, it can become sticky. But that stickiness only matters if the buyer can justify the cost and the implementation effort.

The broader edtech lesson

The SchoolTry example fits a wider pattern across African software markets: the most promising customers are not always the largest in number, but the ones with the clearest operational pain and the most reliable budgets.

That is especially relevant in education, where founders often face a mismatch between social impact and commercial viability. Schools may need software badly, but need alone does not create a healthy business. Procurement can be slow, payment collection can be inconsistent, and institutions may expect deep customization.

Higher education can offer a different equation. Universities, polytechnics, and similar institutions often manage more complex administrative processes and may have stronger incentives to digitize them. For a startup like SchoolTry, that can mean a shorter path to meaningful revenue even if the total number of customers is smaller than in K-12.

For investors, the story is a useful caution against assuming that edtech scale automatically translates into edtech revenue. A startup serving schools may look impressive in user counts while still struggling to build a viable business. The more important question is whether the buyer segment can support repeatable sales and long-term retention.

Regional implications for East African builders

Although SchoolTry is not presented here as an East African company, the lesson travels well across the region. East African education systems are also marked by uneven digitization, budget constraints, and a wide gap between public need and institutional purchasing power.

For software teams building in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, or beyond, the key takeaway is to think carefully about the first customer segment. A product designed for schools may need a different sales motion than one designed for universities. It may also need different pricing, onboarding, and support models.

This is particularly important for founders building infrastructure-style products. The more a platform tries to become the backbone of an institution, the more it must prove reliability, compliance, and ease of use. That can be a heavy lift in environments where IT teams are small and administrative staff are already stretched.

The SchoolTry story also reinforces a practical point for regional founders: revenue concentration can be a feature, not a bug, when it comes from a segment that is easier to serve well. A smaller but more dependable customer base can be healthier than a larger audience that is expensive to acquire and difficult to retain.

What developers and founders should watch

• Buyer economics matter as much as product quality. A useful tool can still fail commercially if the target customer cannot pay consistently.
• Institutional software wins when it becomes a system of record. The more workflows a platform owns, the harder it is to replace.
• Segment choice can determine startup survival. K-12 and higher education may require different pricing, support, and sales strategies.
• Implementation is part of the product. In school software, onboarding and change management can be as important as features.
• Edtech founders should test willingness to pay early. Usage interest is not the same as budget approval.

What this means for the market

SchoolTry’s revenue shift is a useful signal for the African edtech sector. It suggests that the next wave of school software winners may not be the companies with the broadest ambition, but the ones that choose their customer segment carefully and build around real institutional budgets.

That is a more sober story than the usual edtech hype, but also a more realistic one. In markets where software adoption is still uneven, the best businesses are often built by founders who understand not just what schools need, but what they can actually buy.

Sources

• Techpoint Africa: https://techpoint.africa/feature/ismail-eleburuike-is-building-schooltry/
• Techpoint Africa image/source page: https://techpoint.africa/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/FotoJet-35.png