Three years after securing nearly $2.5 million from a mix of angel investors, institutional backers, and other startups—including notable contributions from individuals like Ezra Olubi and entities like Byld Ventures and Stitch—Thepeer is announcing its closure.
The fintech attributes its shutdown to regulatory compliance hurdles and the sluggish pace at which digital wallets were embraced as a payment method. Thepeer’s founders, Kosisochukwu Chike Ononye (CEO) and Michael ‘Trojan’ Okoh (CTO), expressed on their website, “We encountered significant challenges, beginning with compliance issues that prevented us from either onboarding key wallet providers or sustaining their services. Moreover, the market’s acceptance of wallets as a preferred payment medium didn’t scale as anticipated. This necessitated extensive efforts and resources towards educating the populace about our offerings.”
Initially, Thepeer’s April 2021 beta release facilitated direct monetary transfers between users across different fintech platforms, eliminating the need for bank intermediaries. For example, a transaction could be made from Cowrywise to Eversend directly via Thepeer. Progressing from this, the startup evolved to craft business-centric solutions such as Direct Charge, a pull payment mechanism, and Checkout, an online payment interface.
In June 2022, Thepeer successfully concluded a Seed funding round, amassing $2.1 million, predominantly led by Raba Partnership, a venture capital firm with investments in Flutterwave and Stitch. Following this, the startup boasted a remarkable average transaction growth of 161% month-over-month, processing transactions worth millions. In anticipation of potential expansion, it underwent rebranding by Geneza Brands in May 2023, hinting at possible ventures into Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt announced during their Seed round.
However, the founders acknowledged the significant challenge of educating the market on wallet interoperability and persuading users to integrate their payment solutions, which required considerable time and resources. Amid the recent “funding winter” and considering the typical burn rate of a seed-stage startup—estimated between $60,000 and $100,000 monthly in Africa—Thepeer likely exhausted or nearly depleted its $2.1 million in funding within 21 months post-raise.
Confronted with escalating challenges, Thepeer, once a partner of the pan-African fintech giant Flutterwave, deliberated over consolidation, pivoting, or shutdown. Ultimately, the decision was made to wind down operations and return the remaining funds to investors, as aligning the product with market demands proved untenable at their current scale. “After a thorough evaluation of our options, returning the residual capital to our investors emerged as the most prudent course of action,” the founders disclosed.
Thepeer will transition into a maintenance phase until a potential successor for the platform is identified.
In January 2022, Thepeer was highlighted as one of the top 12 African early-stage startups to watch, primarily for its innovative approach to simplifying wallet transfers—an initiative that mirrored the fragmented payment ecosystem in Africa, as noted by George Rzepecki, the founder of Raba Partnership. Additionally, the company earned the “Newbie of the Year 2021” accolade at the Techpoint Awards.
