What Maplerad does

Maplerad is a Nigeria- and US-based banking-as-a-service (BaaS) infrastructure provider that enables businesses to embed financial services via API. The company was founded by co-founders Obinna Chukwujioke and Miracle Anyanwu (CTO), with operational presence in 10+ countries across Africa and supported currencies including NGN, USD, GHC, KES, and XAF. Maplerad's platform is built on three core products — Payout (instant and bulk disbursements), Identity (KYC, government ID verification, biometrics), and Accounts (virtual account issuance in NGN/USD) — exposed through a unified REST API with SDKs in Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Ruby, PHP, .NET, Swift, and Kotlin, alongside a no-code dashboard and white-label option.

The business sells into five horizontal segments: Enterprise (global businesses expanding into Africa), Fintech (digital banks, lenders, wallets), Marketplaces & On-demand (e-commerce, ride hailing, logistics), SMEs (cross-border payment tools), and Logistics & Distribution (freight and 3PL payouts). Maplerad reports 3,000+ active businesses, 99.9% historical uptime, and PCI-DSS and ISO-27001 compliance. Revenue is generated through transaction fees on disbursements and collections, FX conversion margins, API/platform access fees, and white-label licensing — all priced on a usage-based, quote-driven model.

Maplerad exited stealth in October 2022 alongside a $6 million seed round led by Valar Ventures at a $30 million post-money valuation, following an earlier $125,000 round in January 2021. The company operates as an independent private company, not a bank itself; regulated banking services are delivered through partnerships with licensed banks in each jurisdiction.

Name

Maplerad

Legal name

Maplerad

Website

https://maplerad.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Maplerad is a Nigeria- and US-based banking-as-a-service platform that provides API infrastructure for payouts, virtual accounts, and identity verification to enterprises, fintechs, marketplaces, SMEs, and logistics companies across 10+ African markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Banking-as-a-Service Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

BaaS Platforms & Sponsor Bank Enablement (FSAGALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Embedded/Platform Neobanks (Banking-as-a-Feature) (FSABAFAF), Embedded FX & Cross-Border Treasury (FSAGALAG), Risk, Compliance & Controls for Embedded Finance (KYB/KYC/AML, Fraud, Disputes) (FSAGALAK)

Keywords

• Banking as a service
• Payment infrastructure
• API payments
• Virtual accounts
• Cross-border payouts

Headquarters

HQ city

Isolo

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. API/Platform Access Fees: Revenue generated from providing API access to payment infrastructure modules including accounts, payouts, identity verification, and FX conversion
2. Transaction Processing: Fees charged on payment transactions processed through the platform including disbursements, collections, and transfers
3. Currency Conversion: Revenue from FX conversion services between supported currencies (NGN, USD, GHC, KES, XAF)
4. White-label Licensing: Revenue from licensing the BaaS infrastructure to businesses that embed and rebrand financial services as their own

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Maplerad provides a banking-as-a-service platform that lets businesses embed financial services via API. Its three core products are Payout (instant bulk disbursements to bank accounts and digital wallets in 10+ currencies), Identity (KYC and government ID verification with biometrics), and Accounts (virtual NGN/USD accounts for accepting bank transfer payments). The platform supports white-label deployment, no-code dashboard use, and serves enterprises, fintechs, marketplaces, SMEs, and logistics businesses across 10+ countries.

Product overview

Maplerad is a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) infrastructure platform providing financial technology APIs for businesses to embed banking services. The platform operates on a unified architecture with three core products: Payout (for sending funds and bulk disbursements), Identity (for KYC/verification), and Accounts (for virtual account issuance). These core modules can be used independently or combined via API integration to build comprehensive fintech solutions. The company also offers vertical-specific solution packages for Enterprise, Fintech, SMEs, Marketplaces, and Logistics businesses. The platform supports 10+ countries across Africa with multi-currency capabilities (NGN, USD, GHC, KES, XAF), processing payments for over 3,000 businesses with 99.9% uptime. Maplerad is not a bank itself but partners with licensed banks and financial institutions to deliver regulated banking services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Payout API and dashboard-based service for instant bulk disbursements to multiple recipients in local currencies across Africa, with payouts directly to bank accounts and digital wallets in real time.
• Identity KYC and identity verification solution featuring government ID verification using computer vision, biometric/face ID authentication, and custom verification journeys to combat fraud and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Accounts Virtual account issuance service allowing businesses to create NGN or USD denominated accounts for customers to accept bank transfer payments, with support for static and dynamic account numbers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Increase revenue by up to 15% when embedding payments into platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Banking PartnerscoreTechnology or IntegrationMaplerad leverages banking relationships and licensing agreements with licensed banks and financial institutions in their respective jurisdictions to provide financial infrastructure services.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments and embedded-finance infrastructure provider. Stripe Treasury, Issuing, and Connect are direct global analogues to Maplerad's accounts, payouts, and white-label capabilities, and Stripe's ownership of Paystack directly competes in Maplerad's home market.
• Interswitch: Established African digital payments and commerce company with extensive banking rails and enterprise infrastructure across Nigeria and other African markets. Incumbent with broader portfolio overlapping Maplerad's payment and account-issuing capabilities.
• Flutterwave: Pan-African payments giant offering payment processing, payouts, and increasingly BaaS-style APIs across 30+ African countries. Larger, broader incumbent that overlaps with Maplerad on cross-border payouts and accounts.
• TrueLayer: UK-based open-banking and payments infrastructure provider offering account aggregation, payments initiation, and identity verification APIs. Closest global architectural analogue to Maplerad's API-first KYC + accounts stack.
• Paystack: Nigeria-born payments processor now owned by Stripe, serving SMEs and enterprises across Africa with payment APIs. Comparable developer-first GTM and African customer base, though not a dedicated BaaS.

Direct peers

• Duplo: Nigerian BaaS platform enabling businesses to embed payments, collections, and payouts. Closely comparable to Maplerad in product scope (accounts, payouts, KYC) and African SMB/enterprise target market.
• Stitch: South Africa-based financial-data and payments infrastructure provider offering API-based account aggregation, identity verification, and payment initiation. Comparable BaaS infrastructure play targeting African enterprises.
• Mono: Nigeria-based BaaS / open-banking platform providing financial data, payments, and account infrastructure via API to African businesses. Direct competitor to Maplerad in the Nigerian embedded-finance stack.
• Anchor: Nigeria-focused banking-as-a-service platform providing ledger, accounts, and compliance APIs to fintechs and SMEs. Directly comparable product set to Maplerad's Accounts/Payout/Identity modules.

Regional players

• Paga: Nigeria-based mobile payments and digital financial services platform with merchant and consumer payment products. Regional player with overlapping payout and payment-processing capabilities though consumer-facing rather than BaaS.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/withmaplerad
• Facebookweb.facebook.com/withmaplerad
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maplerad

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Maplerad