Breaking: Flutterwave shuts down Disha temporarily

Disha, the no-code platform for creatives acquired by Flutterwave in 2021, will undergo a temporary shutdown effective March 31, 2024. The company cited a need to "reassess its goals and realign its mission to better serve the creative community" as the reason for the pause.

While they emphasize the temporary nature of the closure, no specific date for reopening has been announced. In a statement, Disha said, "We find joy in providing you with tools that move your craft forward, and this pause is critical in helping us rethink our focus."

This shutdown will temporarily limit user access to accounts and stored data. Over 100,000 creators—including content creators, influencers, artists, writers, and designers—leverage Disha's tools to manage their online presence. Until the March 31 closure, users have the opportunity to migrate their files and data to alternative platforms. Additionally, existing subscription fees will be refunded.

This marks the second occasion that Disha has sought to halt its operations.

Disha: From shutdown to Flutterwave acquisition and back

Back in February 2021, just two years after Evans Akanno, Rufus Oyemade, and Blessing Abeng co-founded the no-code creator platform, Disha announced its decision to cease operations by December 2022. The reason given for the shutdown was simply "shortfalls with the platform’s vision," but in an interview, Oyemade stated, "We [the founders] decided to shut down the company because we ran out of resources to continue driving the very valid vision we had."

Before the announcement of the shutdown, Abeng, who joined the company as co-founder and chief marketing officer a few months after its founding, exited, stating that "[it was] necessary as Disha evolved its dream and trajectory in a way that no longer aligned with the vision I committed to".

Regardless of these unresolved misalignments, Disha did not shut down.

In October 2021, barely eight months after announcing a planned closure, Flutterwave acquired Disha in an undisclosed deal. At the time of the acquisition, Disha claimed to have achieved a monthly growth rate of about 100%, having bootstrapped to over 20,000 users.

"We saw Disha as an opportunity to capture a new market of indie creators that need innovative tools to showcase their craft and get paid," Olugbengba Agboola, co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave said at the time. "This acquisition cements our place as a growth partner for freelancers and businesses. For us, Flutterwave Store is to small businesses what Disha is to creators."

While expanding its reach into the lucrative $100 billion creator economy, Flutterwave also bolstered Disha's payment infrastructure, enabling transactions in over 150 currencies across 34 countries. "The new payment feature will support creators who will in turn become key players in the global creator economy," commented Oyemade, Disha's former CTO who joined Flutterwave as software and architectural lead for the no-code platform. Previously, Disha relied on a US-based partner for payment collections.

Given that the deal was finalised during the peak of the global non-fungible tokens (NFT) craze, Agboola mentioned that creators can also utilise the payment infrastructure to trade their tokens. However, the hype surrounding NFTs has since waned.

Despite the initial ambitions, Flutterwave has possibly reached a stage where its vision for Disha falls short, prompting the need for reassessment. Despite making several product-related announcements recently, there has been little news about Disha until its temporary shutdown.

According to his LinkedIn page, Oyemade left the fintech unicorn in January 2023.