Stripe to acquire Nigeria’s Paystack in Africa push

US fintech leader Stripe said on Thursday that it is acquiring Paystack, a Nigerian payments start-up, as it looks to grow its footprint across the African continent.

Paystack, which is based in Lagos, helps companies collect payments from around the world. It has 60 000 clients in Nigeria and Ghana and claims to process more than half of all online transactions in Nigeria.

Paystack plans to expand across the continent and recently started a pilot with businesses in South Africa.

In 2018, Stripe led Paystack’s series-A fundraising round and has provided ongoing guidance as the company scaled.

“This acquisition will give Paystack resources to develop new products, support more businesses and consolidate the hyper-fragmented African payments market,” said Matt Henderson, Stripe’s business lead in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Paystack will continue to operate independently. Over time, its capabilities will be embedded in Stripe’s Global Payments and Treasury Network (GPTN), a programmable platform for global money movement that’s available in 42 countries.

Expansion

Paystack CEO and co-founder Shola Akinlade said: “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.”

Founded in 2015 and launched in January 2016 by Akinlade and Ezra Olubi (who serves as chief technology officer), Paystack was the first Nigerian company to be accepted into Y Combinator. The company has raised over US$10-million from both international and local investors including Stripe, Visa, Tencent, Y Combinator, Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund, Blue Haven Ventures and Ventures Platform.

The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, the companies said. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.  — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media