Paystack, the Nigerian payments company which powers businesses with its payment API has announced that it has expanded its operations to South Africa.
Founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Paystack helps businesses in Africa get paid by anyone, anywhere in the world. The company was actively present in Nigeria and Ghana before expanding to South Africa.
In 2018, Paystack raised an $8 million series A round led by Stripe. The funding was used for its Ghana expansion. Since expanding to Ghana, Paystack has grown and claims to power 50% of all online payments in Nigeria with around 60,000 customers, including small businesses, larger corporates, fintech, educational institutions, and online betting companies.
The company was later acquired by Stripe for $200M in 2020 for its African expansion. According to Tech Crunch, Paystack south African expansion began with a six-month pilot phase that likely started a month after Stripe’s acquisition. During this phase, the company has worked with different businesses and has grown a local team to handle on-the-ground operations.
