As Paga Celebrates its 10th year, Here are 10 Facts You Should Know About the Fintech Startup

Nigerian e-payment platform, Paga is a decade old. The company is one of the most prominent in the fintech space and has helped change the face of mobile payments in Nigeria.

10 years ago today, our CEO, Tayo Oviosu @oviosu founded Paga. It’s been a remarkable journey for us; we are elated to have had the opportunity to play a leading role in solving the ‘use of cash’ problem in Nigeria. #Pagaat10 pic.twitter.com/MAceoZc9BG

— Paga (@paga) April 3, 2019

And to celebrate this impressive stride for the Fintech company, we have decided to rundown 10 interesting facts about the startup.

• Paga is an e-payment platform that allows its users transfer money and make payments through their mobile devices. Users can also pay bills, buy airtime or make transfers through the platform.
• The startup was founded by Tayo Oviosu and co-founded by Jay Alabraba.

I'll forever be grateful for Jay Alabraba @jjalabraba for his faith in me. Leaving a well paying investment banking job to join @mypaga when there was nothing but words & PowerPoint.

Jay, you've been an awesome partner & friend through all the ups & downs. Much love brother 👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/wqWBSdVbwp

— Tayo Oviosu (@oviosu) April 3, 2019

• According to CEO, Tayo, he started Paga out of the frustration of carrying his cash around. He boot strapped the company for the first 6 months before raising finance from angel investors and later from institutional investors.

So excited! 10 years ago today I embarked on a journey to solve the "use of cash" 🥳🥳🥳

I was tired of carrying wads of cash & dealing with POS errors. @mypaga was born out of my frustration & decided to solve what is a global problem.

Thank you Nigeria for trusting us 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/o2Oh8osuPs

— Tayo Oviosu (@oviosu) April 3, 2019

• In 10 years of Existence, the startup has been able to garner over 11 million users on its platform. Interestingly the startup went from 10 million to 11 million in just 37 days.
• The startup has a mobile app which simplifies the process of sending and receiving money for individuals. The startup also has an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code portal, *242#.

Trying to send money to someone who has no account number? We've got you covered! with Paga, you can send money for free to any phone number or email address, whether or not the recipient is a Paga user.

Download our app now to get started: https://t.co/bMh1IvkoOT pic.twitter.com/fJF5zilQrh

— Paga (@paga) December 19, 2018

• In addition to its online platforms, the startup has a chain of 20,000 agents in every region across Nigeria and an employee team of 460.

Thank you to the over 800 people who work (460) or have worked at @mypaga today.

We are doing important work and together making an impact on the world.

I'm immensely grateful to you all. #feelinggrateful #makinglifepossible#JustPagait pic.twitter.com/lubM6b44jA

— Tayo Oviosu (@oviosu) April 3, 2019

• In 10 years of existence, Paga has processed over 72 million transactions worth over N1.6 trillion ($4.6 billion).
• Till date the startup has raised over 12 billion naira ($34.7 million) in funding from a host of investors. Some of these include Omidyar Network, Adlevo Capital and the Global Innovation Fund.

#Nigeria’s Paga Secures a $10 Million Round, Plans #Global Expansion @mypaga @oviosu @GlobalInnovFund @GoodwellInvest @adlevoBV @OmidyarNetwork @ShareThis https://t.co/5FtXflNwGC

— Foundational Yoruba Demon 😈 (@hakdown07) September 6, 2018

• The most recent of these investments is a series B2 round worth $10 million that was raised last year. This was to accelerate its growth in Nigeria and enable it to scale to other countries (Ethiopia, Mexico and the Philippines).
• The startup has several partnerships to its name including Orange mall and KHAN Foundation. The startup was also included among the #Fintech250 fastest growing fintech startups in the World last year.

Hearty congratulations from all of us at Technext.ng