CB Insights has named Paga, Nigeria’s leading payments and financial services company, in its fifth-annual Fintech 250 ranking, showcasing the 250 most promising private fintech companies of 2022.

"This year’s Fintech 250 winners are shaping the future of financial services, from payments and banking to investing and insurance,” said Brian Lee, SVP of CB Insights’ Intelligence Unit. “Representing more than 30 countries, these companies are creating safer and more efficient payment methods and transforming how traditional banking, insurance, and investment products are delivered. Together, they not only make financial services more convenient for users but also make them available to more people, especially traditionally underserved populations around the globe.”

Paga’s founder and CEO, Tayo Oviosu, said, “We’re thrilled about this recognition from CB Insights! It is an encouraging achievement, and we don’t take it lightly. At Paga, we are building an ecosystem that enables the African consumer to send, pay, and bank digitally. It has taken a lot of hard work and commitment over the years. We are grateful for our customers who continue to trust us to provide quality products and services. I am incredibly proud of and thankful for the Paga team; this sort of recognition would not be possible without a dedicated team steering the ship. There’s still work to do to simplify payments and financial services for businesses and individuals, and we look forward to many more milestones on that journey”.

Utilizing the CB Insights platform, the research team selected these 250 winners from a pool of over 12,500 private companies, including applicants and nominees. They were chosen based on factors including R&D activity, proprietary Mosaic scores, market potential, business relationships, investor profile, news sentiment analysis, competitive landscape, team strength, and tech novelty. The research team also reviewed over 2,000 Analyst Briefings submitted by applicants.

Paga has built a robust payments infrastructure with significant impact in Nigeria - its first and largest market. Paga is on track to have 40-50 million Nigerian adult users in the next five years by providing access to financial services via a hybrid approach, which combines its online and offline channels. Its offline channel is over 140,000 agent points where anybody can get financial services rendered to them, and a number of Paga’s over 20 million users use that channel. Its online channels are digital platforms for consumers (the Paga app and *242# on any mobile phone) and merchants (Doroki). 

Quick facts on the 2022 Fintech 250: 

• Equity funding and deals: The Fintech 250 cohort has raised over $115B in equity funding across over 1,100 deals since the start of 2017 (as of 9/20/2022). In 2021 alone, winners raised over $51B across 337 equity deals.

• Unicorns: There are 159 companies with $1B+ valuations on the list.

Global Reach: Globalization is a key theme for this year’s Fintech 250. The winners represent 33 different countries across the globe - 7 more than last year. Just over half (53%) of the selected companies are headquartered in the US, which is the fewest we’ve seen in the Fintech 250 since 2017. The UK came in second with 31 winners (12%), followed by India with 14 (6%), Brazil with 9 (4%), and Germany with 7 (3%).