Paystack, a Nigeria-based startup providing payments tools to businesses in Africa, has been desirous of expanding its operations by attracting needed angel investment.
Now their wish has come to pass!
This is because Paystack has succeeded in raising $8 million from from global payments leaders Stripe, Visa, and Tencent.
Indeed the Lagos-based financial services startup has been active within the Nigerian incubator system through its payment API which it integrates with tens of thousands of businesses.
In less than three years it has grown to process 15 percent of all online payments; and the plan is to both continue to growing in its home country.
Other angel investors include angel investors Tom Stafford (Managing Partner at DST Global), Gbenga Oyebode (founding partner of Aluko & Oyebode and Board member of MTN Nigeria), and Dale Mathias (Co-founder, Innovation Partners Africa).
With earlier investment from Tencent, Y Combinator, Comcast Ventures, and Ventures Platform, Paystack total investment now exceeds $10 million.
“As recently as 2015, it was really difficult for a developer or business owner in Nigeria to quickly start accepting online payments,” says Shola Akinlade, CEO and co-founder of Paystack.
“We started Paystack because we believe that better payments tools are one of the most important things that African businesses need to unlock their explosive potential. We think of Paystack as an amplifier of the incredible work that African business owners are already doing. With better technology tools, African businesses can be better equipped to play a growing role in the global economy.”
Paystack helps businesses in Africa get paid by anyone, anywhere in the world.
Paystack processes over 15% of all online transactions in Nigeria, powering payments for tens of thousands of organizations.
Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, described Paystack as a burgeoning start up with highly technical, fanatically customer oriented, and unrelentingly impatient founders.