Pakam

What Pakam does

Pakam (legal entity: Pakam Technology Limited) is a Lagos-headquartered waste-fintech platform founded in 2021 that digitizes Africa's informal waste economy. The company operates a mobile app marketplace connecting households, waste collectors, recycling facilities, and environmental regulators, supported by a digital wallet, an EV cargo tricycle fleet, embedded micro-finance, and a regulatory-tech (Smart Enforcement) module. The platform processes instant digital payments for recyclable materials via PAKAM Wallet, underwrites collector working-capital loans on collection history, and offers zero-emission EV tricycles through hire-purchase or direct employment. The stated operational footprint covers Lagos only, with publicly disclosed plans to expand to other Nigerian states and internationally, and a claim of 18,000 engaged collectors and 170,000+ metric tons of recyclables recovered since inception.

The product stack is organized around seven interlocking modules: PAKAM Wallet (instant settlement), EV Cargo Tricycles (clean logistics), Micro-Loans & Credit (collector financing), InstantBuy (B2B recyclable bulk buying), Earn-as-you-Waste (household rewards), Smart Enforcement (regulator compliance), and Carbon Credits (climate asset monetization). Technology underpinnings include intelligent scheduling, geospatial routing, and fintech integration hosted on DigitalOcean. The company monetizes through transaction fees on waste pickups, interest on collector micro-loans, EV hire-purchase or employment arrangements, carbon credit sales, ESG/EPR data services, and a sector-agnostic Advisory Services vertical covering circular economy, EV infrastructure, carbon capture/MRV, and government transformation.

Commercially, Pakam is an early-stage private company with only $635,000 in disclosed pre-seed funding (December 2022), 11-50 employees, and no disclosed revenue. Its customer base is distributed across household waste generators, micro-business waste collectors, recycling facilities, corporates needing ESG/EPR data, environmental regulators, and climate finance partners — implying low customer concentration but high geographic concentration in Lagos. Leadership comprises CEO Adeleye Odebunmi, Founder James Anih, and COO Wunmi Ogunde. No patents, certifications, regulatory actions, M&A, or institutional VC investors are disclosed.

Name

Pakam

Legal name

Pakam Technology Limited

Website

https://pakam.ng

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pakam is a Lagos-based waste-fintech platform that digitizes Africa's informal recycling economy, connecting 18,000+ waste collectors, households, recyclers, and regulators via a mobile app with instant digital payments, EV logistics, collector micro-finance, and carbon credit enablement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Waste-Fintech Platform

NAICS

Waste Collection (5621), Solid Waste Collection (562111)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial & Office Waste Collection (Non-hazardous) (EUAIAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Certified Compliance & Reporting Services (R2/e-Stewards, Audit, ESG) (BPALAIAL)

Keywords

• Waste management platform
• Recycling marketplace
• Digital payment services
• Electric logistics fleet
• Circular economy solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Maryland

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees (Waste Collection): Platform connects waste generators with collectors and takes a transaction fee from the waste collection service. Households pay for waste pickup while collectors receive payments for recyclables.
2. Collector Micro-Loan Interest: Provides working capital loans to collectors based on their waste collection history and performance, generating interest income.
3. Advisory Services: Sector-agnostic advisory services including next-generation waste management, circular economy, digital infrastructure, EV infrastructure, carbon capture, and government transformation advisory.
4. EV Fleet (Hire-Purchase): Zero-emission EV tricycles offered to collectors through hire-purchase or direct employment models, creating recurring revenue streams.
5. Carbon Credits: Platform enables measurable ESG results and plastic recovery that can be monetized through carbon credit markets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pakam operates Africa's first integrated waste-fintech platform connecting households, waste collectors, recycling facilities, and environmental regulators through a mobile app ecosystem. The platform enables scheduled recyclable waste pickups, instant digital payments via the PAKAM Wallet, EV cargo tricycle access for collectors, micro-loans for working capital, and smart enforcement tools for regulators. Revenue is generated through transaction fees on waste collection, hardware hire-purchase of EV tricycles, micro-loan interest, advisory services, and carbon credit monetization.

Product overview

Pakam operates as a single integrated waste-fintech platform combining a mobile app, digital wallet, electric logistics, and regulatory technology into a unified ecosystem. The core platform serves three user segments — households (via the PAKAM mobile app), waste collectors (via the PAKAM Collector App), and regulators (via Smart Enforcement) — and is powered by intelligent scheduling, geospatial routing, and fintech integration. The platform's modules interlock: PAKAM Wallet provides instant settlement across all transactions; EV Cargo Tricycles deliver zero-emission collection logistics; InstantBuy enables on-demand bulk buying of recyclables; Earn-as-you-Waste incentivizes household participation; Micro-Loans & Credit provide collector working capital; Carbon Credits monetize verified recovery; and Advisory Services extend the platform's expertise to external clients as a consulting offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PAKAM Mobile App (Households) Consumer-facing mobile application enabling households to schedule recyclable waste pickups via Earn-as-you-Waste, dispose of non-recyclables via Pay-as-you-Waste, and receive instant digital payments for their recyclables through the PAKAM Wallet.
• PAKAM Collector App Mobile application for waste collectors providing dispatch orders, optimized collection routes, digital recording of waste weights, and instant payment triggers through the PAKAM Wallet. Integrated with the EV tricycle fleet for real-time tracking.
• PAKAM Wallet Smart digital wallet enabling instant settlement of payments for recyclable materials, providing seamless, secure, and immediate liquidity to both households and collectors across the platform.
• EV Cargo Tricycles Zero-emission electric cargo tricycle fleet with smart tracking and seamless payments, offered to waste collectors through hire-purchase ownership or secure direct employment arrangements with Pakam.
• Smart Enforcement Regulatory technology platform providing environmental agencies with real-time violation reporting, digital compliance tools, and data-driven enforcement capabilities to issue fines or rewards.
• Advisory Services Consulting engagements covering circular economy advisory, digital infrastructure innovation, EV infrastructure strategy, carbon capture and MRV innovation, government transformation, operational excellence, and innovation acceleration, delivered through the PAKAM Framework (Purpose, Alignment, Knowledge, Acceleration, Measurement).
• Recycling Software Version 2.0 Major version release of Pakam's recycling software platform, enhancing the ecosystem technology infrastructure that supports the waste-fintech operations including household scheduling, collector dispatch, instant payments, and recycler integration.

Quantifiable outcome

• 170,000+ metric tons of recyclable waste recovered since 2021
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GovernmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPAKAM collaborates with government agencies for waste management transformation, regulatory enforcement (Smart Enforcement), and circular economy initiatives. Environmental agencies use the platform for real-time violation reporting and data-driven regulatory enforcement.
• Recyclers / Recycling FacilitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegration with recycling facilities for bulk buying of recyclables through InstantBuy service. Facilities receive verified waste streams with digital traceability and instant settlement.
• Corporates / BusinessescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with businesses for ESG reporting, sustainability goal tracking, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance. Provides auditable recycling data and measurable impact metrics.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Wecyclers: Wecyclers is a Lagos-based waste collection platform that rewards households with points for segregated recyclables. It is the closest geographic and model-level comparable to Pakam's household collection + collector disbursement flywheel.
• Mr. Green Africa: Mr. Green Africa is a Kenyan recycling value-chain company that aggregates post-consumer plastic and converts it into recyclate. Its source-segregation, aggregator model in East Africa is materially comparable to Pakam's collector-to-recycler model in West Africa.
• Plastic Bank: Plastic Bank operates collection networks in emerging markets that exchange recyclables for digital payments and/or social benefits. Pakam mirrors this incentive-driven collection-at-source model combined with a digital wallet, making Plastic Bank a comparable global reference point.
• EcoPost: EcoPost is a Kenyan social enterprise that buys post-consumer plastic waste and converts it into durable fencing posts. Its upstream collection economics and recycler linkage directly parallel Pakam's collector network and InstantBuy aggregation layer.

Emerging players

• Recykal: Recykal is an India-based waste-management digital platform connecting generators, aggregators, and recyclers with traceability and EPR compliance tooling. While not in Africa, its marketplace-plus-compliance stack is structurally similar to Pakam's broader offering.

Broad incumbents

• Rubicon Technologies: Rubicon is a US-based waste and recycling technology company offering routing, dispatch, and customer platforms to haulers and municipalities. Its software-layer approach to informal and formal waste operations is conceptually adjacent to Pakam's platform, with a broader customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pakamnigeria

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

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 Pakam