LazerPay

LazerPay was a Nigerian fintech startup that developed a crypto payment gateway for businesses. Founded in October 2021 by Njoku Emmanuel, Abdulfatai Suleiman, and Prosper Ubi, the company aimed to simplify cryptocurrency transactions for merchants across Africa and globally. CEO Njoku Emmanuel, a self-taught blockchain engineer, co-founded the company as a teenager after dropping out of university to pursue his passion for coding, which began at age 13. The idea for LazerPay was born from Njoku's personal frustrations with the complexity and high cost of international money transfers.

The company's primary offering was an API that allowed businesses to accept payments in stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, BUSD, and DAI, mitigating the volatility of other cryptocurrencies. This service was designed to help African businesses access the global market by overcoming traditional cross-border payment hurdles. Merchants could integrate LazerPay's tools, such as payment buttons and checkout pages, into their websites and applications to receive crypto payments, which could then be withdrawn as fiat currency to bank accounts in various countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, the US, and the UK, or held in a crypto wallet. LazerPay's business model was based on charging a small transaction fee on incoming deposits and outgoing payments. During its operation, the company onboarded over 3,000 businesses and processed more than $1 million in transactions.

Despite initial backing from investors like Paystack's CEO Shola Akinlade, Nestcoin, and Voltron Capital, LazerPay faced significant challenges. In late 2022, the company encountered financial distress after a potential lead investor for its seed round pulled out, citing unfavorable market conditions and a disagreement on terms. This led to salary cuts for employees and eventually, layoffs in November 2022. After continued struggles to secure necessary funding, LazerPay announced it was ceasing operations in April 2023 and offered its intellectual property for sale.

Keywords: LazerPay, crypto payment gateway, stablecoin payments, Nigerian fintech, cross-border payments, Njoku Emmanuel, Abdulfatai Suleiman, Prosper Ubi, API integration, fiat off-ramp, African startups, blockchain technology, digital currency, merchant services, payment processing, financial inclusion, Nestcoin, Voltron Capital, Shola Akinlade, fintech shutdown