By CultureBanx Team
- Stripe is wading acquires Nigerian startup Paystack for $200M
- Digital payments grew in Nigeria up nearly 500% in 2019
Online payment system Stripe is wading deeper into the African continent with its acquisition of Nigerian startup Paystack for $200 million. The company which had already been referred to as the “Stripe of Africa” has around 60,000 customers, ranging from large corporate entities to small businesses and educational institutions. Is this deal a tip-off for global investors?
Why This Matters: For Stripe this is an epic move, because by acquiring Paystack, one of Africa’s top fintech firms, it’s getting into the continent, which will have half the world’s population by 2050. The $36 billion private payments firm has the most ambitious mission statement of any startup, it wants to increase the GDP of the internet, and focusing on Africa can significantly help them get there.
The Africa opportunity is particularly attractive, with the continent’s internet economy growing 21% YoY, 75% faster than the global average per Stripe
Paystack is backed by Visa, Stripe and Tencent, which owns the Chinese app WeChat. The Africa opportunity is particularly attractive, with the continent’s internet economy growing 21% YoY, 75% faster than the global average per Stripe. This is the second major African fintech deal in as many months. WorldRemit acquired Africa-focused remittance firm Sendwave for $500 million in August.
Digital payments grew in Nigeria up nearly 500% in 2019, according to data from the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement Scheme. The Paystack deal positions Nigeria as being one of Africa’s biggest fintech destinations for venture capital and investor money. Specifically, the VC funding raised by African tech start-ups in 2019 was $2 billion, and Nigeria attracted a record high of $747 million or 37% of that money, according toPartech.
Situational Awareness: Paystack founders Shola Akinlade, CEO and Ezra Olubi, CTO, have been making history for quite a while. They joined Y Combinator in 2016, as the first Nigerian startup to do so, according to TechCrunch. Now they hold the title of having created the biggest start-up acquisition from Nigeria.
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