Startups in Nigeria: Nigeria is a country where entrepreneurship is encouraged. Its mixed economy gives entrepreneurs free rein to explore new business ideas. Learn more.
In fact, the country has about 37 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which collectively contribute about 48% of the country’s GDP. Entrepreneurs like Andrew don’t hesitate to explore new ideas, as long as they can see a market for their product or service.
You can also learn more about the top 7 healthy food startups here.
Startups in Nigeria
Opay
OPay is a fintech startup that aims to make financial services easier for millions of Nigerians. The startup has launched operations in Lagos, but it is rapidly expanding throughout Nigeria.
The startup is building a fintech solution that allows its users to send money, pay bills, and buy groceries. The fintech startup believes that a smart approach to money management will help people achieve more with their money.
OPay’s latest funding round brings its total funding to over $50 million. SoftBank Vision Fund, a venture capital arm of the Japanese conglomerate, led the investment.
Other investors in the latest round of funding included IDG Capital and Opera. The funding will help the company expand its business in Nigeria and build its commercial network.
OPay is an African fintech company that offers mobile payment solutions. It has offices in Nigeria, Egypt, and Pakistan. It plans to expand its presence across the Middle East and North Africa later this year.
The company’s mobile app allows users to pay bills with their phones. Its app is available on both Android and iOS devices.
Migo
Migo is a fintech startup that originated in Nigeria. It operates in Nigeria as its primary market, but is now expanding to other emerging markets around the world.
It is currently headquartered in San Francisco and is set to launch in Brazil, a market with a similar demographic profile to Nigeria. The startup also has a partnership with a bank, which could help it gain access to even more consumers.
The company has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Valor Capital Group. The money will be used to hire talent and expand into the Brazilian market. It also will be used to expand in Nigeria, where it currently has seven million users.
It hopes to serve the 100 million adults in Brazil and 90 million in Nigeria without financial inclusion.
Migo is one of many fintech startups that have gained traction in Africa’s largest economy. It offers consumers collateral-free loans and evaluates credit worthiness using text messages and smartphone data.
In addition to Nigeria, the startup has also received heavy investment. In April, Branch, a Kenya-based fintech startup, raised $170 million. The company also has a service called Kwikmoney that provides fast loans to consumers.
Paystack
Stripe, a payments company from the United States, has acquired Paystack, a Nigerian payments startup. The deal is reportedly worth more than $200 million.
The startup’s technology is currently used by over 60,000 businesses to process hundreds of millions of dollars in payments each month.
Paystack was founded by Olufemi Akinlade and Joseph Aghedo, two years after they had worked on Precurio, a software company.
Akinlade left Precurio to work on consulting projects for banks, where he began thinking about the challenges of financial technology and payments. The two cofounders founded Paystack in 2015, and Ezra Olubi joined the company as CTO in 2016.
The company now has a handful of customers and has been accepted into the US-based seed-stage accelerator Y Combinator.
Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack, a Nigerian mobile money startup, puts the country’s tech scene on the map and could spur government action. The deal will also usher in more talent to the ecosystem as Paystack expands across Africa.
Paystack has already made an initial bet in Ghana, another fast-growing mobile money market. Next, it has set its sights on South Africa, where it hopes to differentiate its offering from its competitors.
ThriveAgric
Thrive Agric is a startup in Nigeria that offers investors a chance to participate in agricultural operations. They are a crowd-sourced company and members earn interest on their investments for a minimum of six months.
Those who stay with the company for a longer period of time earn up to 20%. This is a much higher rate than what can be earned through other investment vehicles.
Some investors have questioned the reliability of ThriveAgric after they have not received payments. Some subscribers have said that ThriveAgric avoided answering questions on social media and deleted comments about the payment process.
In the end, ThriveAgric had to contact subscribers to clarify the situation. The company blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns on its social media pages for the delays.
ThriveAgric has raised $9 million for its expansion across Africa. The new funding will help the startup expand into new markets, including Ghana and Zambia.
Reliance Health
Reliance Health is a healthcare startup based in Nigeria that uses technology to reduce health costs. Its innovative solutions include telemedicine, digital healthcare, and partnership with healthcare facilities.
It has been operating for five years and has impacted more than 200,000 lives. The startup is also expanding into new markets such as Egypt, where it has hired a country manager.
Reliance Health aims to make healthcare accessible to people in developing nations. The company has two clinics in Lagos and has partnerships with several hospitals. It offers telemedicine services and health insurance.
The company also offers a variety of healthcare products by subscription. Reliance Health has raised $40 million in a series B funding round, which is considered one of the largest in the African health tech industry.
The company has also raised impact funding from the Arvantis Social Foundation.
Reliance Health has been backed by General Atlantic, a global growth equity investor that focuses on emerging markets. The company recently announced a $40 million Series B round led by the investment firm.
Other investors include Partech, AAIC, Tencent Exploration, P1 Ventures, Tencent Exploration, and M3. The company plans to leverage the investment to expand and hire more talent.
OGAMADAMTv
OGAMADAMTv is a video streaming platform in Nigeria that offers a range of movies, TV shows, and more. The startup has a strong local presence and is expanding its services across the country.
The founders of OGAMADAMTv have an impressive track record in the tech space. Earlier in 2011, they launched iROKOtv, which offered most content for free, and then monetized it through an advertising business model.
The startup has received over $30 million from investors, including US-based Tiger Global, and aims to become Africa’s Netflix.
Nigeria is a large country, with a population of over 208 million people. With a thriving tech scene, it is a key location for startups. In recent years, it has become one of the most exciting startup ecosystems in Africa.
Founders of startups in Nigeria have engaged in massive fundraising efforts to make their businesses a success. The growth of the economy in Nigeria has contributed to the startup boom in the country.
Carbon
There are some important things to remember when you’re starting a company in Nigeria. As a startup, you have to be able to afford the costs involved in acquiring customers. Fortunately, there are several options that can help you with this.
Carbon is one of those options. Carbon is a fintech company in Nigeria founded in 2012 by Chijioke Dozie and Ngozi Dozie. It began as a digital lending service, but has since expanded to include a variety of other services.
Carbon is a fintech company in Nigeria with a simple mission: to provide Nigerians with easy access to short-term loans without collateral. It provides these loans through its mobile app. Recently, it has added an investment tool to its platform.
It has over one million customers and is gaining momentum. In 2018, Carbon generated $10.4 million in revenue and disbursed over $35.6 million in loans.
Rise Vest
Rise Vest is a startup that offers African investors the opportunity to participate in foreign investment opportunities. The platform is a free investment club, where members can invest in US stocks and real estate.
Over time, the platform has evolved to become an integrated wealth management app, offering financial guidance and long-term investing aid.
The platform allows investors to choose their risk profile and invest in different asset classes, including stocks, real estate, and fixed-income investments. It also enables investors to set their goals and invest periodically to achieve them.
Users can set up goals and specify the amount, frequency, and payment method for each goal.
The company has been around for a year and has attracted thousands of users. In this time, the company has become a popular investment vehicle among young people in Nigeria. The returns are impressive, especially if the devaluation of the naira is taken into account.
Chaka
Chaka is a startup in Nigeria that allows investors to buy and sell stocks in Nigeria. It was recently granted a digital sub-broker license by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is the first of its kind to operate in the country.
It plans to use its latest funding to expand its services and improve its technology. It also hopes to establish partnerships with major financial institutions.
The company’s mission is to remove local and global investment barriers through its technologically advanced brokerage solution.
Nigerian investors are often skeptical about investment, and Chaka is taking advantage of this skepticism to provide a safe, hassle-free way to invest in foreign securities.
Chaka works through strategic partnerships with registered brokerage firms such as Citi Investment Capital Limited, which is registered with the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Securities Clearing System.
Chaka has received pre-seed funds from investors including Michael Seibel and Yele Bademosi, who are both Y Combinator investors.
The startup plans to create a new ecosystem that helps Nigerians invest in dollar assets. In addition to the SEC license, Chaka plans to offer digital investment opportunities to Nigerians.
