// startup autopsy

EduMatch

Dominican tutoring startup spent $120K on ads to acquire users it couldn't retain for a second session.

unit economicsSilent Shutdown

Quiet closure with no public announcement

Founded	2018
Closed	2022
Country	Dominican Republic
Sector	Edtech
Founder	Juliana Reyes

// the model, blind

Evaluating only EduMatch’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Regulation as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Unit economics.

Key Events Timeline

2018

FOUNDING

Juliana Reyes launches EduMatch in Santo Domingo to connect students with private tutors.

2019

FUNDING

Raises $350K from Draper Cygnus and Dominican angel investors.

2021

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Spends $120K on Facebook ads; 78% single-session churn rate persists despite marketing push.

2022-06

SHUTDOWN

Platform quietly shuts down with fewer than 200 monthly active users and no path to profitability.

Full Analysis

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Documented cause

EduMatch, a Santo Domingo-based tutoring marketplace founded by Juliana Reyes in 2018, raised $350K from Draper Cygnus and local angels. The platform matched K-12 students with vetted tutors but struggled with low retention: 78% of users churned after one session. Reyes spent heavily on Facebook ads—over $120K in 2021—without fixing underlying product stickiness. By mid-2022 the platform had fewer than 200 monthly active users and was quietly shut down.

Lesson

“Fix retention before scaling acquisition; a leaky bucket kills regardless of ad spend.”

Failure anatomy

Collapse type

Silent Shutdown

🐌 LOW