Promising Startups to Watch in Lagos This Year

- October 05, 2025

Promising Startups to Watch in Lagos This Year | Lagos Fintech Hub

Promising Startups to Watch in Lagos This Year

Introduction: Why Lagos Is the Startup Capital You Can’t Ignore

Lagos is not just the economic heartbeat of Nigeria—it’s fast becoming Africa’s fintech and tech startup capital. Each street in Yaba, Ikeja, Lekki, or Victoria Island hums with innovation. Investors, founders, developers, and everyday people are building solutions that address real problems: payments, inclusion, access to credit, digital wallets, infrastructure, health, and more.

At Lagos Fintech Hub, we track this ecosystem closely. Our mission is to share the stories, successes, and potentials of startups that are solving problems and scaling responsibly. In 2025, while many startups will emerge, a few will stand out—those who combine strong product-market fit, traction, funding, and the ability to scale.

In this article, we spotlight promising startups in Lagos to watch this year. You’ll see fintechs, payments infrastructure, digital banking, wallets, and others making moves — those we believe will shape the next chapter of innovation in Nigeria and beyond.

Section 1: What Makes a Startup “Promising”

Before we list names, what criteria do we use when declaring a startup “promising”?

Traction & Growth: Monthly or yearly growth in users, transaction volume, or revenue.
Funding / Investment: Seed, Series A or higher, or solid backing.
Product Innovation: Solving real problems, using tech well (mobile-first, API-driven, scalable).
Regulatory Compliant / Trust: Licensing, security, clarity around regulation.
Potential for Scale: Local scalability + cross-border potential.

With these in mind, the startups below represent those that meet several of these criteria, and are already gaining attention locally or internationally.

Section 2: Lagos Startups Rising — Top Picks for 2025

Here are ten Lagos-based or Lagos-active startups to watch closely this year. Some are already well known; others are fast growing, sometimes under the radar, but all share promise.

2.1 Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt)

What they do: Business banking & payments infrastructure; SME merchant services; POS terminals; now offering personal banking services. Wikipedia+2Fintech News Africa+2
Why they stand out: Raised $110 million in Series C (2024) to scale performance. Achieved unicorn status. Makes ONE BILLION+ transactions monthly. Strong leader in merchant acquisition. Techtally+1
What to watch in 2025: Expansion into Kenya and perhaps other African markets. More embedded finance tools. Continued innovation in business tools for SMEs.

2.2 PalmPay

What they do: Mobile payments, super-app style features: top-up, transfers, loans, insurance etc. Strong presence across several African countries. Wikipedia+2Techtally+2
Why they stand out: Massive user base (35 million+ in Nigeria as of early 2025); backed by big investors; localizing aggressively. Offers banking-lite services to underserved populations. Techtally+1
What to watch: PalmPay’s move into a financial super-app: adding more services, merchant tools, deeper financial inclusion features.

2.3 Kuda Bank

What they do: Digital-only bank (“bank of the free”) with free transfers, savings tools, etc. Focused on millennials / Gen Z, digital ease. Fintech Insider Africa+1
Why they stand out: Big growth in transaction volumes; relaunches in remittances; pushing profitability and value beyond just free services. Techtally
What to watch: Expansion of services like credit, overdrafts, investment / wealth tools; how well they manage regulatory and financial sustainability.

2.4 PiggyVest

What they do: Saving and investment platform; goal-oriented savings; Flex Naira / Dollar options; automated savings tools for individuals. Fintech News Africa+1
Why they stand out: Huge number of users; rapidly growing assets under management; recognized internationally; strong trust from users. Fintech News Africa+1
What to watch: New product features, perhaps branching into credit or embedded financial services; how they remain competitive and profitable.

2.5 Eyowo

What they do: Digital wallet, transfers, debit card issuance, savings, lending, payments. Notably, users can work with phone numbers instead of traditional bank account numbers—removing friction. SUREDIRECT
Why they stand out: Simplicity, focus on inclusion (especially youth and underbanked); app design and UX are good; gaining momentum.
What to watch: Partnerships with merchants, expansion of payment acceptance, more loans / credit services, regulatory compliance clarity.

2.6 Raenest

What they do: Specialized in cross-border wallet services, virtual cards, and helping freelancers receive payments quickly. Techtally
Why they stand out: They address a pain point many Nigerians face: getting paid globally cheaply; virtual cards are in demand. Strong investor interest in Raenest’s extension rounds. Techtally
What to watch: Retention, UX, regulatory compliance around virtual cards; how they expand service to diaspora, remote workers.

2.7 Moove

What they do: Vehicle financing / leasing for mobility entrepreneurs (drivers, ride-hail etc.), offering revenue-based funding so that drivers can own or lease vehicles. TechCrayon+1
Why they stand out: Unique model; high capital requirement but big market; mobility is a growing sector.
What to watch: Scale (number of vehicles), risk management (vehicle maintenance, default), expansion to other mobility sectors.

2.8 Kora (formerly Korapay)

What they do: Payment infrastructure: payouts, pay-ins, settlement, card issuing, KYC verification for businesses across Africa. Wikipedia
Why they stand out: Pan-African scope; they’re enabling businesses to build, receive, pay across borders; infrastructure piece is often undervalued but essential.
What to watch: Strengthening regulatory compliance, improving speed and cost of cross-border settlements, more partnerships with banks or platforms.

2.9 Zone (Payment Infrastructure Company)

What they do: Payment switching & processing license holder; building infrastructure used by several banks and fintechs; dealing with POS, payment reconciliation, anti-fraud, etc. TechCabal
Why they stand out: Infrastructure is the backbone; startup success depends heavily on good payment rails; Zone has strong partnerships with banks and other institutions.
What to watch: Blockchain integration, reliability, latency, security; potential to scale to more African markets.

2.10 Others on Radar

NowNow Digital — focusing on agency banking, wallet tools, merchant acceptance in underserved communities. SUREDIRECT
Anchor — listed among Lagos startups showing high transaction processing via APIs, focusing on businesses. femaleswitch.com

Section 3: What These Startups Tell Us About the Lagos Fintech Ecosystem

Looking across these startups, several patterns emerge that indicate where Lagos and Nigeria fintech are heading.

Financial Inclusion is central — many of these startups focus on underbanked, youth, small-businesses, people with smartphones.
Embedded finance & infrastructure — rather than building isolated products, many are providing rails, payment switching, virtual cards, wallets, KYC, etc.
Cross-border / diaspora / virtual cards are increasingly important. People working abroad or sending money need cheap, fast, reliable systems.
Larger funding rounds are happening. Moniepoint’s unicorn funding; PalmPay’s funding; investor interest is growing.
Regulation & compliance are moving from risk to necessity. For a startup to scale in 2025, it must think about KYC/AML, licenses, partnerships.

Section 4: Challenges These Startups Face

It’s not all smooth sailing. To stay promising, these startups must navigate:

Regulatory uncertainty: Crypto regulations, virtual card regulations, banking laws can change suddenly.
Capital & profitability: Scale costs money; revenue models for digital-only banks and payment platforms can be thin.
Trust & security: Fraud, cyber-attacks, data breaches are real risks.
Infrastructure constraints: Internet access, power reliability, financial literacy issues especially outside major urban centers.
Competition: Global players and local neobanks entering play; players must differentiate.

Section 5: What to Watch in 2025 — Trends Coming From These Startups

From studying them, we can forecast trends that will likely define Lagos’s fintech startup scene this year.

More super-apps combining payments, savings, credit, insurance, merchant tools.
Growth in virtual & physical cards for freelancing / remote work.
More cross-border payments / remittances capabilities.
Use of AI / ML / data analytics to improve risk scoring, fraud detection, custom UX, pricing.
Increased partnerships between fintech startups and traditional banks to gain trust and regulatory legitimacy.
More investor interest in infrastructure / backstage fintech (payment rails, KYC providers, identity verification).
Emphasis on profitability / unit economics over just growth metrics (“growth at all cost” less sustainable).

Section 6: Lagos Fintech Hub’s Role & How We Help You Stay Ahead

As Lagos Fintech Hub, we do not just report; we connect, educate, and advocate. Here’s how we help founders, users, and investors:

Tracking startup funding and mapping where capital is flowing.
Profiling startups, interviewing founders, spotting early signals.
Providing guides & best practices: regulation, compliance, UX, growth.
Building awareness: educating users about fintech risks & benefits, helping them choose providers wisely.
Facilitating community: connections between investors, incubators, regulators, and startups.

Conclusion: Why These Are the Ones to Watch

Each startup above shows promise because they combine strong business idea + product that solves real pain + growing adoption + vision for scaling. Lagos in 2025 is brimming with opportunity—and these startups are positioning themselves at that leading edge.

If you’re an investor, entrepreneur, or user, these are the names to remember. They are building the infrastructure, solutions, and trust needed for fintech in Nigeria to move forward—from digital payments to wallets, inclusion, financial services, cross-border tools, and more.

2025 could be the year one or more of them becomes the next big unicorn, or an African leader. Keep your eyes on them—and if possible, support them, use their services, or collaborate. Because the future of African finance depends heavily on these local innovators.

Lagos Fintech Hub