Crash & Learn: Insights from Startup Setbacks

The SureRemit Story: How a $7M Remittance Startup Collapsed Under Its Own Token

Crash & Learn — Issue #2

Hello Everyone,

In this issue of Crash & Learn, we dissect SureRemit, a Nigerian startup that raised $7 million through an ICO in 2018 and seemed poised to revolutionize crypto-powered remittances. But by 2021, it had quietly disappeared.

So what went wrong?

Let’s break it down.

Startup Snapshot

• Founded: 2017

• Died: 2021 (4-year run)

• HQ Location: Lagos, Nigeria

• Sector/Model: Crypto/Remittance (B2B2C with prepaid merchant partnerships)

• Funding Raised: $7M (Initial Coin Offering)

• Peak Team Size: ~20

• Key Claim to Fame: One of the first African startups to raise millions via crypto. Promised fee-free international remittances using blockchain and merchant partnerships

The Rise & Fall

The Big Bet

SureRemit aimed to solve a major friction point in African remittances: high transaction fees. The pitch was bold. What if you could send value across borders using tokens and redeem them directly with partnered merchants?

Founders believed blockchain technology could eliminate remittance fees and streamline cross-border spending for migrants. Their "unfair advantage" was timing (early days of the ICO boom) and a novel concept: targeted remittance using crypto.

2. Early Wins & Hype

The ICO raised a staggering $7 million from global investors, with headlines celebrating Africa’s crypto future. The startup landed partnerships with merchants across Nigeria, Kenya, and India.

There was buzz on social media. The whitepaper made rounds. SureRemit was lauded as one of Africa’s first crypto success stories.

3. The Turning Point

Trouble started once the hype faded. Token adoption was weak. Users didn’t understand how to spend them. Merchants struggled with integration. Token liquidity dried up, and the once-promising Remit tokens lost utility.

Internally, the team grappled with how to pivot. Externally, user engagement and volume were not growing. The ecosystem was incomplete, and usage didn’t justify the valuation.

4. The Crash

By late 2020, it was clear: the token model wasn’t working. With no strong user base, limited merchant traction, and falling token value, operations stalled.

There were no big headlines. Just silence. The startup faded out by 2021.

Why SureRemit Failed

• Mistake 1: Built a token before validating real-world demand.

• Mistake 2: Assumed merchant onboarding would be seamless and scalable.

• Mistake 3: ICO hype masked weak product-market fit.

• Mistake 4: Complex UX confused early adopters (Who exactly is the user? The sender? The spender?)

Lessons for African Founders

✅ Don’t chase hype—build for utility. Tokens must serve a clear, daily-use function. If your average user needs a whitepaper to use your app, start over.

✅ When early adoption stalls, go back to user validation. If you’re building a two-sided marketplace (merchants + senders), both sides must find real value.

✅ Hire for humility, not just blockchain buzz. A grounded product team could have focused more on adoption than speculation. 

The Aftermath

• Founders and early team members have since gone silent in the public eye. No significant spin-offs or acqui-hires have been recorded.

• The Remit token remains inactive on most exchanges. No formal shutdown statement was issued.

• If they’d known how quickly token sentiment would cool, they might have invested first in adoption, partnerships, and regulatory alignment before launching the coin.

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Reader Q&A

Have you ever launched something users didn’t fully understand? Or built tech no one used? We want to hear your story.

Call to Action

🔗 Nominate a startup for our next post-mortem.
🔗 Share this with a founder who’s flirting with a shiny new token idea.
🔗 Reply: Which lesson hit home?

Final Word

Which lesson hit home for you? Reply and let us know.

Know a startup we should cover in our next issue? Hit us up.

Until next time, keep learning from the crash.

Africa's Next Big Startup
Because failure is just data with better branding.