Maplerad, a Nigerian startup that provides Banking as a Service (BaaS), has secured $6 million in a seed funding round.
Along with Golden Palm Investments Corporation, Michael Vaughn, Fintech Fund, Babs Ogundeyi, Armyn Capital, Dunbar Capital, Strawhat Investment, Polymath Capital, Unpopular Ventures, Sean Mahsoul, and MyAsiaVC, Valar Ventures served as the round’s lead investor.
Miracle Anywanwu and Obinna Chukwujioke founded the startup, which has recently come out of stealth.
Over the course of this time, Maplerad transacted millions of dollars per month for more than 100 businesses that were acquired via its platform.
Among other banks, these companies included Pastel, Spleet, Bridgecard, Onboardly, Vella, Crowdforce, Dojah, and GetEquity.
In 2020, the founders of Maplerad launched WirePay, which facilitated cross-border payments for users using fiat and cryptocurrencies.
Over time, the focus shifted to a “one-stop shop” financial service that offers its ability to do everything from the store and convert currency, issue cards (both digital and physical), and settle invoices.
The necessity for companies to take advantage of the infrastructure supporting Wirepay, its license coverages, and its banking ties rose as the service’s user base, which is primarily in Nigeria, grew to over 50,000; as a result, Maplerad was created.
In addition to a $125,000 cheque from OnDeck, Wirepay received undisclosed pre-seed funding last year from Golden Palm Investments Corporation, Greenhouse Capital, a few Stash executives, and Berrywood Capital.
The additional funding will be utilized to broaden the company’s footprint throughout Africa and to add more clients, licenses, and team members.
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