Paystack records 10X growth since $200M Stripe acquisition
Paystack has expanded more than tenfold since Stripe acquired the Nigerian payments company for over $200 million in 2020, CEO Shola Akinlade revealed at Semafor’s Next 3 Billion summit on the sidelines of UNGA 80 in New York.
The acquisition, announced on October 15, 2020, was Stripe’s largest deal at the time and remains the biggest startup exit in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. Back then, Paystack supported about 60,000 businesses.
Shola Akinlade has revealed that the company powers payments for more than 200,000 businesses across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire today. He credited the surge to two core strategies: “powering people building for Africa” and “connecting Africa with the rest of the world.”
That approach has fueled milestones such as Black Friday 2023, when the payment platform processed more transactions than in all previous Black Fridays combined since its founding in 2015—a signal of the explosive rise of African e-commerce.
A major growth driver has been the company’s ability to bridge global platforms with African consumers. Shola Akinlade mentioned, for example, that language application Duolingo now accepts Nigerian naira through Paystack, unlocking access to more than 1.5 billion potential African users.
“You cannot power people building for Africa and not grow,” Akinlade said, highlighting how enabling African entrepreneurship naturally drives the company’s expansion.
Paystack’s growth over the years
Founded in 2015 by Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Paystack was the first Nigerian startup admitted into Y Combinator in 2016, joining a roster that includes Dropbox and Airbnb.
In 2018, the company raised $8 million in Series A led by Stripe, with participation from Visa, Tencent, and Y Combinator. Two years later, Stripe moved to acquire Paystack, cementing its presence in Africa.
Since then, Paystack has broadened its offerings, including the launch of Virtual Terminal services in 2024—allowing merchants to accept secure in-person payments without hardware costs.
Paystack’s rise mirrors a broader continental shift. Despite Africa holding 17% of the world’s population, the continent accounts for just 2% of global digital commerce—a gap that underscores immense untapped opportunity.
Today, Paystack processes payments 50 times larger than Nigeria’s entire online economy in 2016, reflecting the pace of digital transformation across African markets.
While part of Stripe’s global network, Paystack continues to operate from its Lagos headquarters under Akinlade’s leadership. In 2022, he received a Nigerian national honour for his contributions to the country’s tech ecosystem.
