Lipia
Lipia is a Nairobi-based fintech that uses a Chrome browser extension to let Kenyan consumers without international credit cards shop from global retailers (Amazon, Nike, ASOS, Shein, Zara, eBay, etc.), pay via M-Pesa, and receive consolidated shipments at their door in Kenya.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2025
- HeadquartersNairobi, Kenya
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Lipia does
Lipia is a Kenya-incorporated (Lipia Inc.), Nairobi-headquartered fintech and cross-border e-commerce enablement platform targeting Kenyan consumers who lack international credit cards but want to buy from global online retailers. Its core product is a free Chrome browser extension that automatically syncs shopping carts from supported international stores (Amazon, Nike, ASOS, Zara, Shein, eBay, Walmart, Macy's, Sephora, Boohoo, Apple, Adidas), displays an all-inclusive price in Kenyan shillings — item, service fee, shipping, and customs duties — and enables checkout via M-Pesa, Airtel Money, or card. Payment processing is delegated to Safaricom's M-PESA gateway; Lipia states it never holds customer funds and does not store payment credentials. Underlying technology comprises a Chrome extension, a Supabase-hosted PostgreSQL backend with encryption at rest, optional Google Gemini-powered cart scraping for unsupported stores, and a UK-based international warehouse where packages are received, weighed, consolidated, and dispatched weekly to Kenya via three logistics partners (Savostore, KenTex, Aquantuo).
The business model is purely transactional and per-order: a 2.5% service fee with a $2 minimum, $10 maximum (flat $12 for orders over $500), $18/kg international shipping from the UK warehouse invoiced after weighing, and an optional $5 doorstep delivery fee within Nairobi. There are no subscriptions, membership tiers, or advertising products. Distribution is product-led via the Chrome Web Store with content-driven top-of-funnel activity on Instagram and a blog; a mobile app is announced with a 1,987+ waitlist. Lipia is privately held, founder-controlled, with no disclosed external funding, employee count of 1–10, and operations confined to Kenya.
Lipia firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lipia
- Legal name
- Lipia Inc.
- Website
- https://lipia.online
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2025
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Lipia is a Nairobi-based fintech that uses a Chrome browser extension to let Kenyan consumers without international credit cards shop from global retailers (Amazon, Nike, ASOS, Shein, Zara, eBay, etc.), pay via M-Pesa, and receive consolidated shipments at their door in Kenya.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lipia industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cross-Border E-commerce Services
- SIC
- Retail-Nonstore Retailers (5960)
- akta.pro primary industry
- In-App / Online Checkout Wallets (FSAMAEAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services (FSAMAIAG)
Keywords
Where Lipia is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nairobi
- HQ country
- Kenya
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices2 records
Markets served
Lipia business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Service Fee: A transparent 2.5% service fee on order value with minimum $2 and maximum $10 caps. For orders over $500, a flat $12 fee applies instead. This fee covers the facilitation of purchase, handling international logistics, consolidating packages, and managing the end-to-end process.
- Shipping Fees: $18 per kilogram (actual or volumetric weight, whichever is greater), plus an optional $5 local delivery fee within Nairobi. Shipping is invoiced after items are weighed at the warehouse. Consolidation of multiple packages is free and shares costs across shoppers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Standard order processing with service fee of 2.5% of order value |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Large orders (over $500) pay flat $12 service fee |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | International shipping at $18 per kilogram |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Optional home delivery within Nairobi |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Lipia product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lipia is a cross-border e-commerce enablement platform for Kenyan consumers. It provides a free Chrome browser extension that automatically syncs shopping carts from international stores (Amazon, Nike, ASOS, Zara, Shein, eBay, Walmart, Sephora, Apple, Adidas, Macy's, Boohoo), enables M-Pesa/Airtel Money/card checkout, consolidates packages at a UK warehouse, handles international shipping to Kenya, and delivers to the customer's door. The company earns revenue from a 2.5% service fee on order value and $18/kg shipping fees.
Product overview
Lipia is a unified cross-border e-commerce enablement platform consisting of a Chrome browser extension (already live) and a mobile app (announced/waitlist). The core product is the Lipia Chrome Extension, which integrates with major international e-commerce stores (Amazon, eBay, ASOS, Nike, Zara, Shein, Walmart, Sephora, Macy's, Boohoo, Apple, Adidas) to sync shopping carts and enable Kenyan shoppers to pay with M-Pesa, Airtel Money, or cards. The platform layers on package consolidation services (free combining of orders at Lipia's UK warehouse), real-time order tracking, a pricing calculator, shipment protection, and international shipping with customs clearance. The Lipia Mobile App (on waitlist) will extend these capabilities to mobile with unified product search. Lipia operates on a pay-per-order basis with no subscription fees.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lipia Chrome Extension A free Chrome browser extension that sits in the user's browser and automatically syncs shopping carts from supported international e-commerce stores, displays all-inclusive KES pricing (item + service fee + shipping + customs), and routes checkout through M-Pesa/Airtel Money/card with payment going directly to the merchant. For Kenyan individual consumers who want to shop internationally but lack international credit cards.
- International Shipping Service (UK warehouse to Kenya) A separately billed international shipping service priced at $18 per kilogram (actual or volumetric weight, whichever is greater), with optional $5 home delivery in Nairobi. Includes customs clearance and is operated via logistics partners with weekly air freight schedules from the UK to Kenya.
Quantifiable outcome
- Savings of KSh 13,000+ on a single jersey order via consolidation compared to direct international shipping
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Lipia
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Lipia technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
AI capability2 records
Feature6 records
Lipia partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- SavostorecorePartner shipping company that handles air freight alongside Lipia's own logistics. Weekly shipping departures from international warehouse to Kenya.
- KenTexcorePartner shipping company handling air freight from Lipia's international warehouse to Kenya on weekly schedules.
- AquantuocorePartner shipping company for international freight alongside Savostore and KenTex. Part of the weekly shipping schedule to Kenya.
- SupabasecoreDatabase hosting, authentication, and data storage for Lipia's services. Account, order, and authentication data stored on Supabase (PostgreSQL) with encryption at rest.
- Safaricom M-PESAcorePayment processing through Safaricom's M-PESA gateway. Handles M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and card payment processing. Payment credentials processed only by Safaricom; Lipia never stores payment information.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lipia competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- FedEx Cross Border: FedEx's cross-border e-commerce logistics arm offering international shipping, clearance, and returns for online retailers. Broad incumbent overlapping with Lipia on cross-border execution rather than consumer-side payment integration.
- Flutterwave: Pan-African payments and cross-border commerce infrastructure provider. Broad incumbent that could plausibly add a shopper-facing layer similar to Lipia's, representing both a competitor and a potential partnership/exit option.
- DHL eCommerce: Global cross-border parcel and e-commerce logistics network operated by DHL. Competes with Lipia on the international shipping leg of the value chain, with broader coverage but no payment-facilitator or store-integration layer.
Direct peers
- Mall for Africa: Africa-focused cross-border e-commerce service that lets African consumers buy from US/UK retailers and ship home. Same problem space as Lipia (payment + logistics bridge to global stores) and overlapping target market in Africa.
- Stackry: Package forwarding and consolidation service offering international shoppers a US address with package combining and forwarding. Direct competitor to Lipia's UK warehouse consolidation and forwarding model.
- MyUS: Package forwarding service providing international shoppers with a US address, consolidation, and global shipping. Competes with Lipia on the consolidation/freight dimension and the "address + ship" bridge model.
- Shipito: US-based package forwarding and assisted purchase service enabling international customers to shop US retailers. Overlap with Lipia on assisted buying, address provision, and international shipping.
- ComGateway: Asia-based package forwarding and consolidation service operating a similar buy-and-ship model for shoppers outside the merchant's shipping zone. Functional comparable to Lipia's consolidation logic.
- BigAppleBuddy: Personal shopping / proxy buying service that purchases items from US retailers on behalf of international shoppers who lack US payment methods or shipping access. Mirrors Lipia's core buy-and-ship model with end-to-end logistics.
Regional players
- Chipper Cash: African cross-border payments fintech operating across multiple African countries with mobile money interoperability. Compared for regional payment infrastructure context where Lipia could expand, though its product is payments rather than shopping facilitation.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Lipia social profiles
Digital presenceLipia compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Lipia financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lipia leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Lipia funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lipia M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lipia
What does Lipia do?
Lipia is a cross-border e-commerce enablement platform for Kenyan consumers. It provides a free Chrome browser extension that automatically syncs shopping carts from international stores (Amazon, Nike, ASOS, Zara, Shein, eBay, Walmart, Sephora, Apple, Adidas, Macy's, Boohoo), enables M-Pesa/Airtel Money/card checkout, consolidates packages at a UK warehouse, handles international shipping to Kenya, and delivers to the customer's door. The company earns revenue from a 2.5% service fee on order value and $18/kg shipping fees.
Is Lipia a public or private company?
Lipia is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Lipia founded?
Lipia was founded in 2025. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Lipia based?
Lipia is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, in the Africa region.
How does Lipia make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Service Fee is the primary driver. The others are shipping Fees.
Who are Lipia's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are FedEx Cross Border, Flutterwave and DHL eCommerce. Direct peers are Mall for Africa, Stackry, MyUS, Shipito, ComGateway and BigAppleBuddy. Chipper Cash is listed as a regional player.
Does Lipia have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lipia.
What industry is Lipia in?
Lipia's product category is Cross-Border E-commerce Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAEAH, In-App / Online Checkout Wallets, with a secondary code of FSAMAIAG, Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services. Its SIC code is 5960.