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Paystack, a Lagos-based financial technology company founded in 2015, has been acquired by Stripe, an American tech company that builds online payment infrastructure, in a deal that is worth over $200 million, according to TechCrunch.  

"I'm thankful to share that Paystack is joining the Stripe family," Shola Akinlade, CEO and Co-founder of Paystack, said in a statement released on Thursday. "We’ll be acquired by Stripe to accelerate online commerce across Africa, pending standard closing conditions including regulatory approvals."

Although the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, it is considered the biggest Nigerian startup acquisition thus far. The acquisition comes two years after Stripe led Paystack's $8 million Series A funding round in 2018. Other investors that participated in the funding round included Visa, Tencent and Y Combinator.

Paystack's acquisition is Stripe’s biggest startup acquisition to date, according to TechCrunch, an American media company that provides news and analysis on technology, startups and venture capital. Stripe, currently valued at $36 billion, enables millions of companies in over 120 countries to use its software and application programming interfaces (APIs) to accept and send payments, as well as manage their businesses online.   

The San Francisco, California-based firm said the Paystack acquisition is part of its global expansion strategy, which includes betting on African emerging markets for its future growth.

“In absolute numbers, Africa may be smaller right now than other regions, but online commerce will grow about 30% every year,” Patrick Collison, Stripe’s co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch about the opportunity in Africa. “Stripe thinks on a longer time horizon than others because we are an infrastructure company. We are thinking of what the world will look like in 2040-2050.”

Referred by tech analysts as “the Stripe of Africa,” Paystack currently provides online payments processing and other services to over 60,000 businesses and public institutions. The deal will enable the company to further expand in Nigeria and to other markets.

“I’m driven by the mission to accelerate payments on the continent, and I am convinced that Stripe will help us get there faster. It is a very natural move,” Akinlade noted.

Paystack said it will continue to operate independently, and there will be no disruption of service as a result of the acquisition.