Konga Group
“Can a Nigerian e-commerce marketplace become the payments and digital banking rail for African trade?”
Founded2012
HQLagos, Nigeria
FoundersSim Shagaya
Total raised$79.5M
Latest roundAcquired by Zinox Group (2018)
IndustryE-commerce / Platform
The story
Founded in 2012 as a Nigerian e-commerce marketplace competing with Jumia, Konga pivoted deeper into embedded finance after being acquired by Zinox Group in 2018. KongaPay, launched in 2016 as an escrow tool tied to the checkout, has since been rebranded as a standalone digital banking platform offering savings, POS, invoicing, and cross-border payments to individuals and SMEs. The strategic bet is that KongaPay becomes the payments and banking layer for African commerce, with the marketplace and logistics arms as its distribution channels.
Product timeline
2012
Konga.com launched as a Lagos-only online retailer by Sim Shagaya.· launch
2013
Expanded nationwide across Nigeria and opened first pickup centres.· expansion
2014
Raised $25M Series B, one of the largest African startup rounds at the time.· funding
2016
Launched KongaPay as a secure escrow / payment system for the marketplace.· payments
2018
Acquired by Zinox Group (Leo Stan Ekeh).· acquisition
2019
Rolled out soft loans / credit facilities for marketplace merchants ahead of Yakata sales.· lending
2025
KongaPay repositioned as a full digital banking platform with Pro features, savings, POS, invoicing, and cross-border tools.· banking
Acquisitions
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Konga Group’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
KongaPay (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
4 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.