Nigerian Fintech Finds Profit After Near-Collapse

When a Nigerian fintech nearly collapsed in 2023, its founders discovered something more valuable than their original dream.

GetEquity launched in 2021 with a bold mission: let everyday Nigerians invest in startups just like venture capitalists do. Their first deal, a $50,000 raise, filled in under an hour. Growth climbed 15 to 20% monthly, and the future looked bright.

Then 2023 hit like a sledgehammer. Nigeria's naira devalued dramatically, and venture capital across Africa dried up completely. "2023 was our worst year ever," co-founder Jude Dike admits. The platform they'd built for startup investments suddenly had no fuel.

The company faced a painful choice: shut down or rebuild from scratch. During the Techstars accelerator program, they started testing new investment types with their users. Small experiments with trade notes and debt financing showed promise but nothing spectacular.

Then came the breakthrough that seemed almost too simple. In early 2024, they tested commercial papers from Dangote Sugar Refinery, short-term debt instruments that big corporations use but regular Nigerians couldn't easily access. They expected about $7,400 in interest.

The response stunned them. Within one day, they hit $2,800 in investments. By day five, they'd crossed $19,000. By year's end, they'd facilitated nearly $200,000 in commercial paper investments. They'd found their real market.

The pivot required sacrifice. GetEquity laid off 40% of its workforce in 2024 as roles became obsolete under the new model. But partnering with established asset managers meant they no longer needed large internal teams for vetting deals. The leaner structure brought something they'd never achieved before: profitability.

The infrastructure they'd built for startup syndicates, the portals and dashboards and investment flows, turned out to be perfectly suited for traditional investments too. They'd accidentally created a white-label solution for Nigeria's entire private capital market.

The Bright Side

GetEquity's survival story reveals something important about innovation in emerging markets. Sometimes the breakthrough isn't the disruptive idea you started with but the sustainable solution hiding underneath. The company now seeks a digital asset custodian license from Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission, formalizing their new path.

Co-founder Temitope Ekundayo reflects on the journey with hard-won wisdom: they'd built a sophisticated tool but discovered it was a vitamin, not a painkiller. The commercial papers solved a real pain point for Nigerian investors locked out of stable, accessible investment options.

For founders Dike and Ekundayo, who discovered they were neighbors on the same street after months of virtual collaboration, the journey has come full circle. They're no longer chasing venture capital's boom-and-bust cycles but building something more valuable: a profitable bridge between everyday Nigerians and investment opportunities that were always there, just out of reach.

The company that nearly died in the venture drought has found its most sustainable fuel yet.