The Nigerian Tech Startup ecosystem is on the prowl. It is a leading hub for entrepreneurship on the continent thanks to a growing number of engaging international investors, a huge population with access to technology, and an ever-rising number of startup support organizations active within this landscape. The Grand Nigerian Business News is thus committed to educating you on the ”going ons” within this  nascent but highly productive aspect of the Nigerian economic space.

We begin by exploring three start ups deploying innovative technology in changing the dynamics of operation within the nation’s financial sector.

Flutterwave

Flutterwave is an African based fintech company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent. The company was founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola who worked with a team of ex-bankers, entrepreneurs and engineers. The Tech firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California with operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and seven other African countries.

In 2021, Flutterwave raised a US$ 170 million Series C funding round.  At the time, this was the largest amount ever secured by an African tech startup and gave it a valuation fo over US$1 billion, making Flutterwave a unicorn. Investors in Flutterwave include Y-Combinator, Visa Ventures, Mastercard, Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management.

Flutterwave’s mission is to simplify payments for endless possibilities, while operating a  larger vision of helping Africans to build global businesses that can make and accept any payment, anywhere from across Africa and around the world.  The firm provides the easiest and most reliable payments solution for businesses anywhere in the world.  We decided to provide the award-winning technology core needed to provide businesses all around the world a powerful, reliable and intelligent payments gateway.

Paystack

Paystack  is a startup out of Lagos, Nigeria that provides a quick way to integrate payments services into an online or offline transaction by way of an API.  The tech coy makes it easy for businesses to accept secure payments from multiple local and global payment channels. It equally provides tools to help businesses retain existing customers, as well as acquire new ones.

The fast-rising fintech start-up is inspired by a vision of millions of exceptional businesses across the continent who’re profitable, envied, and loved. It believes businesses in Africa will eventually, routinely rob shoulders with the best companies on the planet, and win. Building that world gives purpose, every day.

The company is active today in Nigeria, where its payment API integrates with tens of thousands of businesses, and in two years it has grown to process 15 percent of all online payments; and the plan is to both continue to grow in its home market, as well as expand to more countries, starting with Ghana.

Paystack currently has around 60,000 customers, including small businesses, larger corporates, fintechs, educational institutions and online betting companies, and the plan will be for it to continue operating independently, the companies said.

In 2020, as part of steps at expanding its API-based payments services into more geographies, Stripe announced that it had picked up another $600 million in funding,  Stripe is acquiring Paystack, Terms of the deal are not being disclosed, but sources close to it confirm that it’s over $200 million. That makes this the biggest startup acquisition to date to come out of Nigeria, as well as Stripe’s biggest acquisition to date anywhere.

Chaka