Lipad

Payment Processing / Payment Gatewaylipad.io

Lipad is a Nairobi-based API-first payment infrastructure provider enabling businesses and financial institutions across 21+ African markets to collect payments, disburse funds, and engage customers via mobile money, card, and bank integrations through a unified REST API and SDK suite.

Company typePrivate
Founded-
HeadquartersNairobi, Kenya
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

What Lipad does

Lipad, legally Lipad Tech Limited, is a Nairobi-headquartered payment technology company that provides an API-first payment infrastructure targeting developers, merchants, and financial institutions across African markets. Its platform unifies card, bank, and mobile money payment flows into a single set of REST APIs, supporting collection (online, in-store, invoiced, and payment pages), disbursements (B2C payouts, B2B transfers, airtime, and bill payments), customer engagement (email, SMS, USSD, WhatsApp, voice), and a newer ERP module covering finance, accounting, HR, and payroll. Developer-facing surface area includes Hosted Checkout, Standard Checkout API v2, Direct Charge, Payouts, Airtime, FX, Statement/Reconciliation, and Split Settlements APIs, with SDKs in Node.js, PHP, Python, and Java, a WooCommerce plugin, and sandbox environments for testing.

The company has assembled direct integrations with major African mobile money operators — M-Pesa, Airtel Money, MTN, Orange Money, Wave, Vodacom, Tigo, Halotel, Zamtel, TNM, and Free — covering 21+ countries across East, West, Central, Southern, and North Africa with multi-currency settlement and an hourly-refreshed FX API. Beyond the core payments stack, Lipad has extended into ERP and customer-engagement products, suggesting a deliberate broadening from pure transaction infrastructure into broader business-software workflow tools for SMB and platform merchants.

The business model is transaction-fee based: Lipad earns per-transaction processing fees on payment collection and disbursement, with pricing that is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated via sales contact on a pay-as-you-go basis. The go-to-market motion is product-led and self-serve, with developer documentation at developer.lipad.io, a sandbox environment, API-key self-provisioning via dashboard.lipad.io, and a WooCommerce plugin for low-touch SMB e-commerce onboarding. The company is privately held, founder-led (Geoffrey Maina, CEO; Nick Kigen, Head of Design), and currently discloses no external funding, revenue, or named enterprise customers.

Lipad firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Lipad
Legal name: Lipad Tech Limited
Website: https://lipad.io
Company type: Private
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: Lipad is a Nairobi-based API-first payment infrastructure provider enabling businesses and financial institutions across 21+ African markets to collect payments, disburse funds, and engage customers via mobile money, card, and bank integrations through a unified REST API and SDK suite.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Lipad industry classification

Industry

Product category: Payment Processing / Payment Gateway
NAICS: Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)
SIC: Finance Services (6199)
akta.pro industry: PRIMARYBPAMAFAC
Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant)
Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Payments, Wallets & Digital Banking Platforms
SECONDARYFSAMAEAH
In-App / Online Checkout Wallets
Financial & Insurance/Payments & Transaction Processing/Digital Wallets & Mobile Payments
SECONDARYFSAMAIAJ
Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs)
Financial & Insurance/Payments & Transaction Processing/Cross-Border Payments & Remittances
SECONDARYFSAMAIAG
Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services
Financial & Insurance/Payments & Transaction Processing/Cross-Border Payments & Remittances

Keywords

Payment gateway services
Mobile money payments
Payment processing API
Disbursement solutions
Multi-country payments

Where Lipad is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Nairobi
HQ country: Kenya
HQ region: Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

Lipad business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

Payment Processing Fees: Lipad charges transaction fees on payment processing through its gateway. The platform supports card, mobile money, and bank payments with fees applied per transaction. Documentation shows service charges and transaction fees as separate line items in payment responses.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Transaction based/ take rate	Pay-as-you-go	Custom enterprise pricing

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Lipad product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Lipad provides an API-first payment gateway platform enabling businesses across 21+ African countries to accept card, mobile money, and bank payments, send B2C and B2B disbursements to mobile wallets and bank accounts, distribute bulk airtime, and access FX and reconciliation services through a single integration. Beyond payments, the platform offers an Engage customer communication suite (SMS, email, WhatsApp, USSD, voice) and an ERP suite covering finance, accounting, HR, and payroll.

Product overview

Lipad is a comprehensive payment gateway platform offering a modular product suite designed for African markets. The core offering consists of four main product lines: Collect for payment acceptance (online, in-store, invoiced), Disbursements for B2C and B2B payouts (mobile money, bank, airtime, bills), Engage for customer communication (SMS, email, WhatsApp, USSD, voice), and ERP Solutions for finance/HR/payroll. These are complemented by a robust API ecosystem including Hosted Checkout, Standard Checkout API v2, Direct Charge, Payouts (B2C/B2B), Airtime, FX, Statement, and Split Settlements APIs. SDKs are available in Node.js, PHP, Python, and Java. The platform connects to mobile money operators and banks across 20+ African countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Collect Payment collection solution enabling businesses to accept online payments, in-store payments, invoiced payments, and payment pages, supporting mobile money, credit/debit cards, and bank transfers through a single integration.
Disbursements Payout solution for sending money to mobile money wallets (M-Pesa, Airtel, Faiba, Telkom) and bank accounts, supporting mobile money transfers, bank transfers, airtime top-ups, and bill payments with real-time processing.
Engage Customer engagement and communication platform supporting email, bulk SMS, USSD, WhatsApp, and voice channels for customer outreach, support, and feedback collection.
ERP Solutions Integrated business management solution combining Finance and Accounting (budget management, expense tracking, reporting) with HR and Payroll (automated payroll processing, employee records, attendance tracking).
Hosted Checkout Hosted payment page solution where Lipad handles the checkout flow and redirects back to the merchant upon completion, with AES-256-CBC encrypted payload submission and support for mobile money and card payment methods.
Standard Checkout API v2 API endpoint for initiating payment transactions that returns a redirect URL for customers to complete payment through a hosted checkout page, with status query and webhook callbacks.
Direct Charge API API enabling merchants to initiate mobile money, card, and bank charge requests directly with OTP verification for secure customer authorization.
Payouts (B2C) API API for business-to-consumer payments including salary payments, lottery winnings, loan disbursements, and supplier payments, supporting local payouts to mobile money wallets and international money transfers with float wallet management.
B2B API API for business-to-business transactions enabling payments to paybills, till numbers, or bank accounts with recipient type validation and transaction status callbacks.
Airtime API API for purchasing airtime top-ups to one or more mobile numbers in a single request, supporting 1-1000 recipients per request with per-recipient status updates via callbacks or status queries and E.164 phone format support.
FX API API for currency conversion services providing buying and selling rates for various African currencies with hourly rate refresh.
Statement API Reconciliation API enabling merchants to retrieve paginated lists of payment transactions within a specified date range for local reconciliation and financial reporting.
Split Settlements API feature enabling merchants to allocate portions of transaction amounts to different partner accounts, supporting platforms with multiple service providers or affiliate programs.
SDKs (Node.js, PHP, Python, Java) Software development kits in Node.js, PHP, Python, and Java that facilitate integration of Lipad's Direct API and Checkout features into applications, including encryption utilities for secure payload handling.
WordPress/WooCommerce Plugin WordPress plugin that integrates Lipad's payment gateway with WooCommerce, enabling merchants to collect payments through an express self-checkout interface (requires WooCommerce 4.6+ and PHP 5.2.4+).

Companies that use Lipad

Customer profile

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Lipad technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: Yes
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature9 records

Lipad partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

M-Pesa (Safaricom)coreTechnology or IntegrationM-Pesa mobile money integration enabling Lipad merchants to accept M-Pesa payments in Kenya. Supports STK push and USSD payment flows with test numbers provided for sandbox testing.
Airtel MoneycoreTechnology or IntegrationAirtel Money integration across multiple African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia. Enables mobile money payment collection through Airtel Money wallets.
MTN Mobile MoneycoreTechnology or IntegrationMTN Mobile Money integration covering Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin. Supports mobile money disbursements and collections across MTN's African footprint.
Orange MoneycoreTechnology or IntegrationOrange Money integration for Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Cameroon markets, enabling Orange customers to make and receive payments through the Lipad platform.
WavecoreTechnology or IntegrationWave mobile money integration covering Senegal and Ivory Coast markets, supporting payment collections and disbursements through Wave's mobile wallet service.
Vodacom/Tigo/HalotelcoreTechnology or IntegrationVodacom (Tanzania, DRC), Tigo (Tanzania), and Halotel (Tanzania) integrations covering Tanzania's multi-operator mobile money ecosystem.
Free (Senegal)coreTechnology or IntegrationFree mobile money integration for Senegal market, enabling payments through Free's mobile money service.
Zamtel (Zambia)coreTechnology or IntegrationZamtel mobile money integration for Zambia market, providing local payment coverage through Zambia's telecom operator.
TNM (Malawi)coreTechnology or IntegrationTNM mobile money integration for Malawi market, supporting mobile money payments and disbursements.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Lipad competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Flutterwave: Pan-African payment gateway offering collection, disbursements, and cross-border APIs across 30+ countries. Closest direct competitor to Lipad in product scope, geographic breadth, and API-first developer-led GTM.
Cellulant: Pan-African digital payments platform providing collection, disbursements, and mobile money aggregation APIs. Direct peer in both product suite and geographic coverage across multiple African markets.
Paystack: Stripe-owned payment gateway serving Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya with checkout, subscriptions, and disbursements APIs. Directly competes with Lipad's Collect and Disbursements offerings for African merchants.
DPO Pay (Network International): Pan-African payment gateway and processor serving merchants in 20+ countries with card, mobile money, and bank payment acceptance. Comparable to Lipad in geographic breadth and merchant payment gateway positioning.
Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa): Africa's largest mobile money interoperability network enabling cross-border payments and disbursements. Direct competitor to Lipad's Payouts and FX APIs in the cross-border mobile money aggregation space.

Broad incumbents

Interswitch: Largest African payments incumbent offering gateway, card issuing, switching, and digital banking infrastructure across multiple countries. Overlaps with Lipad in payment gateway and bank-channel services but at significantly larger scale.

Regional players

Paga: Nigeria-focused mobile money and payment platform offering collection, disbursements, and merchant APIs. Comparable product set to Lipad but geographically concentrated in Nigeria rather than pan-African.
Pesapal: East African payment gateway (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda) offering card, mobile money, and bank payment acceptance. Comparable to Lipad in East African market focus and SMB merchant gateway positioning.

Emerging players

Yoco: South African payment platform offering card-present and online payment acceptance plus SMB tools (invoicing, business management). Comparable to Lipad in SMB-focused payment gateway and operational software bundling.
Chipper Cash: Cross-border mobile money transfer and payments platform serving African diaspora and intra-African corridors. Overlaps with Lipad's FX and cross-border payout capabilities but with a consumer-first model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Lipad financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Lipad leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Lipad funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

Lipad M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Lipad

What does Lipad do?

Is Lipad a public or private company?

Lipad is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Lipad founded?

Lipad was founded in -1. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is Lipad based?

Lipad is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, in the Africa region.

How does Lipad make money?

One revenue line is on record: payment Processing Fees.

Who are Lipad's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Flutterwave, Cellulant, Paystack, DPO Pay (Network International) and Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa). Interswitch is listed as a broad incumbent. Regional players are Paga and Pesapal. Emerging players are Yoco and Chipper Cash.

Does Lipad have an API?

Yes. Lipad offers a comprehensive payment API with multiple endpoints for Checkout (hosted and standard), Direct Charge, Payouts (B2C and B2B), Airtime, FX rates, Statement/Statement API, and Bill Payment. The API supports token-based authentication (x-access-token), webhook callbacks for asynchronous notifications, and is available in both sandbox and production environments. Market coverage includes mobile money operators and banks across 20+ African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Rwanda, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Benin, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. Developer documentation is at developer.lipad.io.

What industry is Lipad in?

Lipad's product category is Payment Processing / Payment Gateway. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAFAC, Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant), with a secondary code of FSAMAEAH, In-App / Online Checkout Wallets. Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 6199.