“Can a single API consolidate Africa's fragmented mobile-money, card, and bank rails into the default payments infrastructure for businesses operating on the continent?”
Founded 2003 (formerly Mula) as a mobile content/payments company, Cellulant evolved into Africa's leading payments infrastructure player, processing over 4.5 million transactions daily across 35+ markets. The 2018 Rise Fund-led $47.5M Series C marked its shift into a continent-scale payments aggregator, and the 2021 launch of Tingg consolidated its consumer/merchant payments stack. The company is now pushing further into embedded finance — exploring merchant lending and positioning Tingg as a single-API gateway to mobile money, banks, and cards across Africa.
Cellulant processes payments through Tingg by Cellulant (self-operated), Tingg Checkout (self-operated) and Tingg Instore (self-operated).
Cellulant uses Tingg Payouts (self-operated) for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Cellulant's stack: Payments / PSP (Tingg by Cellulant (self-operated), Tingg Checkout (self-operated) and Tingg Instore (self-operated)); Lending (Merchant lending (under consideration)); FX & payouts (Tingg Payouts (self-operated)).
Cellulant is founded in 2003 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
Cellulant has raised $54.5M+ (disclosed) in total (latest round: Series C, 2018).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Cellulant and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.