Maplerad, a Nigerian Banking as a Service (BaaS) startup, has raised $6 million in seed funding to acquire more customers, get additional licenses and build its team, as well as deepen its reach across Africa.
The round was led by Valar Ventures alongside Golden Palm Investments Corporation, Michael Vaughn — ex-COO, Venmo, Fintech Fund, Babs Ogundeyi — CEO, Kuda, Armyn Capital, Dunbar Capital, Strawhat Investment, Polymath Capital, Unpopular Ventures, Sean Mahsoul and MyAsiaVC.
The startup which is just coming out of stealth was founded by Miracle Anywanwu and Obinna Chukwujioke. During this period, Maplerad processed millions of dollars monthly for over 100 businesses acquired on its platform. These businesses included Pastel, Spleet, Bridgecard, Onboardly, Vella, Crowdforce, Dojah, and GetEquity, among other banks.
Maplerad’s founders first launched WirePay in 2020, helping users make international payments by offering cross-border payment solutions in fiat and cryptocurrency.
Gradually the focus moved to a self-described all-in-one finance product enabling users to receive, hold, and make payments in multiple currencies, create virtual and physical cards, and pay bills.
Wirepay raised undisclosed pre-seed funding last year from Golden Palm Investments Corporation, Greenhouse Capital, some Stash executives, and Berrywood Capital, including a $125,000 check from OnDeck.
As Wirepay grew to over 50,000 users, mainly in Nigeria, the need for businesses to leverage the infrastructure powering Wirepay, its license coverages, and banking relationships grew; hence, Maplerad was created.
