Paystack Leads Acquisition of Nigerian Fintech Startup Brass

Nigerian fintech startup Brass has been acquired by an investment group led by Paystack. The group includes PiggyVest, Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and angel investors Oo Nwoye and Olumide Soyombo. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.

This acquisition signals a significant consolidation within Nigeria’s fintech sector. Amandine Lobelle, COO at Paystack, stated, “Each member of the investment group brings years of experience in financing and building reliable financial service products. We’re excited for Brass’ next stage of growth.”

Brass, launched in 2020, provides financial tools to small and medium-sized businesses. These include credit and payment processing, payroll, expense management, and business banking services. The startup has built a customer base of over 5,000 businesses, including educational institutions, shopping centres, restaurants, and tech startups like Eden and Mono.

The founding team, CEO Sola Akindolu and CTO Emmanuel Okeke, will step down following the acquisition. “The work of making entrepreneurship permission-less is far from finished, and we look forward to what’s next from the new team,” said Akindolu.

While the specific changes to Brass’s product offerings post-acquisition are not yet clear, the involvement of Paystack and PiggyVest suggests a focus on enhancing financial services for Nigerian entrepreneurs. This could involve integrating Brass’s existing suite of tools with Paystack’s payment infrastructure and PiggyVest’s savings and investment services.

This acquisition comes two months after Brass resolved transaction delays that had troubled the platform since late 2023. The startup attributed the delays to a limited number of businesses and challenging economic conditions. In March, Brass temporarily laid off some employees to restructure its operations.

Brass has raised at least $2 million in funding, with Ezra Olubi, co-founder and CTO of Paystack, participating in one of the funding rounds. The acquisition marks a strategic move to bolster fintech services and support entrepreneurial growth in Nigeria.