Peter Thiel’s investment platform has signed a deal to back an early-stage investment into a Nigeria-based financial services technology company.
Valar Ventures has led a $6 million seed investment into Maplerad, investing as a new player.
US-based Valar Ventures was founded in 2010 by Andrew McCormack, James Fitzgerald and Peter Thiel to back technology deals globally. Previous deals in Africa includes backing Yellow Card, an Africa-focused financial services technology company delivered in 2021.
Valar Ventures also backed a $55 million series-B funding round into Kuda, Nigeria-based financial services technology portfolio company – also sealed in 2021.
Maplerad will use the new capital for capacity expansion, with the company looking to build out its platform. The company is also looking to expand its products offering.
Andrew McCormack [pictured] is partner at Valar Ventures.
James Fitzgerald is partner at Valar Ventures.
Headquartered in Lagos, Maplerad is a software company that provides an online payment processing platform.
The company’s platform enables corporates to access multiple financial services including cross border payments through their Wirepay product.
Maplerad also issues cards through an application programming interface (API) sponsorship, program management and settlement.
The company’s clients are allowed to design the cards and set the currency in which they want the cards to be charged.
Created in 2022, Maplerad is headed by co-founder and CEO Obinna Chukwujioke and employs 16 people, as of 2022.
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