Traction Apps

Traction Apps positions itself as a comprehensive financial and business management platform tailored for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and across Africa. Founded in 2020 by former McKinsey consultants Mayowa Alli and Dolapo Adejuyigbe, the company's creation was directly influenced by their work on financial inclusion initiatives at the global consulting firm. They identified a critical gap in the market where SMEs were underserved by traditional banks and forced to juggle multiple, disconnected solutions for payments, e-commerce, and inventory management.

The company's core offering is a mobile application that aggregates essential business tools into a single interface. This platform enables merchants to accept a variety of payments (including Point of Sale, USSD, and bank transfers), manage inventory, create online storefronts, issue invoices, and keep detailed sales and customer records. One of its key features is designed to combat payment fraud by providing real-time transaction verification, ensuring that merchants only acknowledge legitimate credit alerts. Traction's business model is multifaceted, generating revenue from transaction fees ranging from 0.4% to 0.5%, a 3% fee on loans provided through its Cash Advance feature, and software subscription fees.

In August 2023, Traction Apps secured a significant milestone with a $6 million seed funding round led by Ventures Platform, Multiply Partners, and P1 Ventures. This capital injection was aimed at accelerating growth within Nigeria and fueling expansion into other African markets. By October 2024, in a strategic move reflecting consolidation within the African tech scene, Traction Apps was acquired by OmniRetail, a B2B e-commerce company, for an undisclosed amount in an all-stock deal. This acquisition integrated Traction's PoS solution into OmniRetail's OmniPay platform, expanding the combined entity's reach to an estimated 180,000 merchants. Following the acquisition, co-founders Mayowa Alli and Dolapo Adejuyigbe joined the OmniRetail leadership team as Director of Technology for Payments and Director of Operations for Payments, respectively, to steer the growth of the newly integrated payment solutions.

Keywords: SME financial platform, payment solutions Nigeria, business management app Africa, merchant services, point of sale Africa, SME lending, inventory management software, Dolapo Adejuyigbe, Mayowa Alli, OmniRetail acquisition, Ventures Platform, African fintech, e-commerce enablement, merchant tools, digital payments, business analytics, retail operations, financial inclusion, POS systems, B2B e-commerce