Nigerian start-up Paystack acquired by Stripe for US$200 million

Stripe, the US-based payments and software company has acquired Nigerian Startup Paystack for a fee that is reported to be in excess of US$200 million.

Background

Paystack is a Nigerian startup that offers offline and online API based payment services. The company currently has around 60 000 customers covering small businesses, fintech, education institutions, and large companies. The companies that Paystack works with include, FedEx, UPS, MTN, Lagos Internal Revenue Service and AXA Mansard.

Stripe is a US-based technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. The company works with operations of all sizes and some of them include names like Amazon, Google, Zoom and Shopify. All those companies use Stripe’s software to accept payments and scale their online businesses.

Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack

The deal that is reported to be worth over US$200 million is the biggest acquisition of date to come out of Nigeria. This will also be Stripe’s biggest acquisition yet.

This move by Stripe is a shift in their strategy because it usually acquires smaller companies. On the other hand, this lines up with Stripe’s continued expansion because it has added 17 countries to its areas of operation over the last 18 months.

Speaking on the acquisition Stripe’s co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison said:

In absolute numbers, Africa may be smaller right now than other regions, but online commerce will grow about 30% every year. And even with wider global declines, online shoppers are growing twice as fast. Stripe thinks on a longer time horizon than others because we are an infrastructure company. We are thinking of what the world will look like in 2040-2050.”

via TechCrunch

On Paystack’s end, the deal will help accelerate the company’s ambitions to expand further out of Nigeria into other markets.

“Paystack was not for sale when Stripe approached us. For us, it’s about the mission. I’m driven by the mission to accelerate payments on the continent, and I am convinced that Stripe will help us get there faster. It is a very natural move.”

Shola Akinlade PayStack co-founder