We're loading the complete profile of this person of interest including their biography, achievements, and contributions.
Co-Founder & CEO, Paystack
Public Views
Experience
Documented career positions
Shola Akinlade is a Nigerian software engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Paystack, a massive African payment processing company. Recognizing that local businesses were completely suffocated by terrible digital payment infrastructure, Akinlade built a seamless, developer-friendly API that allowed African merchants to accept payments in minutes. In 2026, Akinlade operates with absolute institutional backing. Following the historic $200 million acquisition of Paystack by the American payment giant Stripe in 2020, he successfully retained total operational autonomy. Paystack effectively serves as Stripe’s primary gateway into the African continent, continuously expanding into new markets like South Africa and Egypt. Beyond fintech, Akinlade has aggressively invested in local sports, founding the Sporting Lagos Football Club and spearheading massive community infrastructure projects to foster the next generation of Nigerian athletic talent.
Co-founded Paystack which became the very first Nigerian startup to be accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator program in Silicon Valley
Executed the historic 200 million dollar acquisition of Paystack by Stripe serving as the absolute watershed moment that validated the massive potential of the African venture capital ecosystem
Operates with such pristine universally respected technical dominance that he largely avoids personal controversy though he routinely has to navigate the incredibly complex volatile foreign exchange restrictions imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria which frustrate digital merchants
Founded Sporting Lagos FC completely revolutionizing local sports club management and community engagement in the Nigerian Professional Football League
