Nigerian crypto and Web3 company Lazerpay has announced that it is closing after failing to raise funds.
Lazerpay announced that it has stopped its activities as of April 13 and users must withdraw their money before April 30. According to the statement made by the founder and CEO of Lazerpay, Emmanuel Njoku, the decision to close was inevitable after the company could not raise funds in a funding round. Announcing the closure of his platform with a statement on Twitter, Emmanuel Njoku made the following statements in his statement: “We are extremely grateful for the connection we have established and the impact our platform has had on the crypto ecosystem. We’ve struggled to keep the lights on for as long as possible, but unfortunately we’re at the point where we have to turn them off.”
There were multiple layoffs
Lazerpay had made multiple layoffs in November 2022. The company’s layoffs were due to its inability to raise funds with the withdrawal of the lead investor.
The startup announced that it is refocusing on providing a smooth transition for users by solving existing problems. Accordingly, it is recommended that investors use bank or crypto payment options and withdraw their funds before April 30, 2023. However, the company invites other platforms to bid to sell its intellectual property.
Njoku founded Lazerpay in October 2021 with Abdulfatai Suleiman and Prosper Ubi. The company was helping businesses globally accept stablecoin payments from customers. According to Njoku, Lazerpay has so far acquired more than 3,000 businesses and processed over $1 million in transactions.
The African crypto-region has been rocked by the news of the shutdown recently. Last week, Paxful, the Bitcoin peer-to-peer marketplace, announced that it would cease operations.
However, some crypto payment startups across the continent are still thriving. Nairaex, an active Bitcoin exchange in Nigeria, is an example.
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