A Nigerian mobile recharge and payment solutions startup, Zoto, has reportedly shut down. Zoto’s problems appear to have started in May 2018. That was the time when users began to complain in social media about their inability to transact on the app.

Confirming the shutdown, Oshone Emmanuel Ikazoboh, the co-founder responded to inquiries about Zoto on Twitter: “ not all startups survive, unfortunately.”

Zoto launched in 2015 originally ​as a mobile​ ​airtime recharge app and, over the years, claimed to have grown its user base to over 1 million users. A while ago, the company had blogged (LINK):

Two​ ​years​ ​ago,​ ​Zoto​ ​started​ ​out​ ​as​ ​a​ ​mobile​ ​recharge​ ​app. At​ ​the​ ​end​ ​of our​ ​first​ ​year,​ ​we​ ​were celebrating​ ​100k​ ​users.​ ​June​ ​would​ ​make​ ​it​ ​the second​ ​year,​ ​and​ ​we​ ​already​ ​celebrated​ ​1​ ​million​ ​users.

Exponential growth?​ ​In​ ​some​ ​way,​ ​yes.​ ​But​ ​we​ ​know​ ​there’s​ ​more,​ ​so​ ​we​ ​shared​ ​a slice​ ​of​ ​cake​ ​and​ ​are​ ​already​ ​looking​ ​on​ ​to​ ​the​ ​next​ ​target.

That​ ​isn’t​ ​the​ ​purpose​ ​of​ ​our​ ​post​ ​here​ ​today. Instead,​ ​we’d​ ​like​ ​to​ ​talk about​ ​the​ ​journey​ ​so​ ​far.​ ​The​ ​voluntary​ ​7​-day​ ​work​ ​week​ ​and​ ​sleepless nights,​ ​the​ ​unexpected​ ​crashes,​ ​making​ ​Android​ ​top​ ​charts, and​ ​that one​ ​time​ ​we​ ​got​ ​over​ ​200k​ ​users​ ​in​ ​a​ ​few​ ​days.