Mara
“Can a consumer crypto wallet become the default financial account for Africans excluded from traditional banking rails?”
Founded2021
HQLagos, Nigeria
Total raised$23M
Latest roundSeed (2021-11)
IndustryFintech / Crypto
The story
Mara was founded in 2021 as 'Africa's portal to the cryptoeconomy', raising a $23M seed to build a consumer crypto wallet and exchange targeting African markets. Headcount has since contracted (-10% YoY per LinkedIn), consistent with the broader post-2022 African crypto retrenchment. The company continues to operate a fiat + crypto wallet product across Nigeria and Kenya.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2021
Mara founded as an African crypto wallet / digital finance ecosystem.· pivot
2021
Raised $23M seed round to build pan-African crypto exchange and wallet.· banking
The stack
0 layers disclosed in Mara’s embedded-finance stack
Accounting gap: none