The management team confirmed that while consumer operations are drawing to a close, the firm is currently engaged in advanced acquisition discussions with an undisclosed prominent Nigerian financial infrastructure provider.
Nigerian financial technology startup Gigbanc has announced it is winding down its standalone consumer operations. Founded in 2023, the neobank built a multi-currency wallet and cross-border payment ecosystem tailored specifically for African freelancers, remote workers, creators, and corporate entities.
The management team confirmed that while consumer operations are drawing to a close, the firm is currently engaged in advanced acquisition discussions with an undisclosed prominent Nigerian financial infrastructure provider.
In an official statement, co-founders Paul Omoregie Okundaye and Babatope Oni pointed to an increasingly challenging operating landscape for business-to-consumer (B2C) cross-border platforms.
Navigating the cross-border payment environment required immense operational overhead. Management explicitly cited the high infrastructure and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulatory compliance costs as major friction points that heavily squeezed margins.
While African venture funding saw a minor 1.4% year-on-year capital bump in the first half of 2026 to $1.44 billion, the number of actual deals finalized plummeted significantly from 252 down to just 146. This structural contraction left early-stage startups with scarce options for bridge capital or structural pivots.
Before deciding on a formal shutdown, Gigbanc’s leadership explored restructuring its product matrix. However, the team was unable to secure the necessary fresh capital required to execute the operational transition, rendering an institutional sale the most viable next step.
During its three-year market run, Gigbanc successfully grew its platform infrastructure to capture a notable portion of the regional gig-economy market.
The startup amassed a user base of over 150,000 customers across multiple countries, ultimately processing more than ₦10 billion in cumulative transaction volume.
See also: TS Imagine Adds Debt Trading to TradeSmart Fixed Income
The neobank has established a firm off-ramp deadline of July 31, 2026. Customers holding balances on the app are urged to convert their existing multi-currency funds into Nigerian Naira (NGN) and initiate withdrawals to local bank accounts. Management guaranteed that all non-fraudulent funds can be pulled out entirely free of charge until the terminal date.
The closure adds Gigbanc to an expanding roster of recent early-stage casualties in the West African fintech space including Okra and Chimoney where infrastructure dependency and capital-intensive B2C operations continue to force consolidation across the tech ecosystem.
