US firm, Stripe, buys Nigeria’s five-year-old Paystack
Stripe, a United States technology firm, said on Thursday that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Paystack, a Nigerian fintech startup, in order to help increase Africa’s online GDP.
Paystack, a Lagos-based technology firm that makes it easy for organisations of all sizes to collect payments from around the world, was founded in 2015 by two young Nigerians, Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi.
Stripe said in a statement that it had been working closely with Paystack for some time, adding that it led Paystack’s Series A financing round in 2018 and had provided ongoing guidance as the company rapidly scaled.
The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, according to the statement.
“In just five years, Paystack has done what many companies could not achieve in decades. Their tech-first approach, values, and ambition greatly align with our own,” said Stripe’s Business Lead in EMEA, Matt Henderson.
He said the acquisition would give Paystack resources to develop new products, support more businesses and consolidate the hyper-fragmented African payments market.
“We can’t wait to see what they will build next and how their growth can turbocharge the African tech ecosystem,” he added.
According to the statement, Paystack will continue to operate independently, growing its operations in Africa and adding more international payment methods.
It said over time, Paystack’s capabilities would be embedded in Stripe’s Global Payments and Treasury Network, a programmable platform for global money movement that currently spans 42 countries.
“Paystack is a growth engine for modern businesses in Africa, and we couldn’t be more excited to join forces with Stripe, whose mission and values are so aligned with ours, to nurture transformative businesses on the continent,” the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Paystack, Shola Akinlade, said.
He added, “We believe deeply that with the right tools, African creators, developers, and entrepreneurs can do incredible things.
“Leveraging Stripe’s resources and deep expertise, we’re excited to accelerate our geographic expansion and introduce more payment channels, more value-added services, and deeper integrations with global platforms.”
According to the statement, more than 60,000 businesses in Nigeria and Ghana currently use Paystack to securely collect online and offline payments, launch new business models, and deepen customer relationships.
“Incredibly, Paystack already processes more than half of all online transactions in Nigeria. Paystack has ambitious plans to expand across the continent and recently started a pilot with businesses in South Africa,” it added.
