Paystack, a Lagos based technology firm that ensures the easy collection of payments across the globe has been acquired by Stripe.
This agreement of acquisitions will support Stripe’s expansion plan on the African continent.
Reports have it that the deal amounts to more than $200 million, an acquisition that appears to be the largest in Nigeria’s startup history.
Currently, the African digital economy is growing by 21% annually, which is 75% faster compared to what is obtained globally.
Nigeria and Ghana alone account for more than 600,000 businesses using the Paystack platform for payments, launching new business models among others.
In Nigeria alone, Paystack processes over half of the major online transactions across the country.
The fintech company recently commenced a pilot test with South African businesses and has plans to expand across Africa.
The two companies have been working together for a time now. Sometime in 2018, Paystack’s Series A funding round was led by Stripe.
Matt Henderson, Stripe’s business lead in EMEA commented:
“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.
This acquisition will 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.”, Matt added.
The acquisition isn’t a complete takeover as Paystack will continue an independent operation on the continent while adding more international payment methods.
In time, the functionalities of Paystack will get integrated in Stripe’s Global Payments and Treasury Network (GPTN), for global money transfer that currently runs across 42 countries.
CEO and co-founder of Paystack, Sola Akinlade said:
“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.
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.”
Meanwhile, the acquisition is still subjected to standard closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Featured Image: orientdailynews
Do you have a story that is worth featuring? Get in touch via pr[at]techbuild.africa
Don’t miss important articles during the week. Subscribe to techbuild weekly digest for updates.
