Traction Apps, a top supplier of payment solutions for Nigerian small businesses, has been acquired by OmniRetail, a retail technology startup based in Nigeria.
OmniRetail is a B2B enablement company that was founded in 2019 and offers the digital infrastructure required to address some of the most urgent issues in Africa’s commerce value chain, especially by attending to the needs of unofficial retailers.
OmniRetail provides retailers with the necessary resources and tools to acquire products, establish and obtain credit, and streamline their operations for increased profitability and scale through its flagship platform, Omnibiz, and cutting-edge tools like OmniPay and Mplify. The company is in a strong position to transform the retail sector in the area, having onboarded 90 brands and more than 140,000 small retailers.
The startup has now purchased Traction Apps. In April, it began its most recent round of fundraising with an undisclosed sum of money from Goodwell investments. In 2020, Mayowa Alli and Dolapo Adejuyigbe founded Traction Apps, a one-stop platform that offers retail software solutions, lending, and payment acceptance to over 100,000 merchants.
By integrating Traction’s merchant point of sale services into OmniPay’s current ecosystem, the acquisition will enable OmniRetail to improve the financial platform for retailers.
“This acquisition is a testament to the synergies we’ve built with Traction. What started as a partnership to integrate Traction’s POS into OmniPay for card payments has grown into a full merger. Together, we will simplify payments, credit access, and loyalty solutions for retailers and SMEs, helping them thrive in an increasingly digital market,” said Deepankar Rustagi, CEO of OmniRetail.
Traction co-founder Mayowa Alli said the integration would allow the startup to scale its solutions and accelerate its vision of simplifying payments at the retail level.
“OmniRetail’s ecosystem will enable us to bring our innovative solutions to a wider audience, benefiting even more small businesses across Nigeria and beyond,” he said.
Traction’s co-founder, Dolapo Adejuyigbe, stated that the goal of creating Traction was to enable small businesses to expand and prosper.
“Now, as part of OmniRetail, we will become the leading growth partner for SMEs across Nigeria, offering a more comprehensive platform than ever before,” he said.
The merged company will now serve 180,000 clients in the retail and wholesale markets, establishing itself as a dominant force in the FMCG merchant market. Joining OmniRetail’s leadership team, the founding team of Traction will concentrate on expanding OmniPay, integrating solutions, and advancing product development.
“Their expertise in fintech infrastructure, combined with our retail knowledge, will drive innovation and growth,” said Dika Oha, chief platform officer of OmniRetail.
This partnership was made possible in large part by Ventures Platform, a significant investor in both OmniRetail and Traction.
“We believe in leveraging the strengths of our portfolio companies to create more robust solutions. This acquisition is a major step forward in building more comprehensive offerings for African SMEs,” said Dotun Olowoporoku, partner at Ventures Platform.
