Shola Akinlade

Shola Akinlade is a Nigerian software entrepreneur and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Paystack, a payments-infrastructure company serving African businesses.

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About Shola Akinlade

Profile information current to 2026-08-22.

Nigeria · Software entrepreneur, Chief executive officer · 1 affiliation

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Known for: African payments infrastructure; Technology entrepreneurship
Country: Nigeria

Software entrepreneur
Chief executive officer

At a glance

Akinlade co-founded Paystack with Ezra Olubi and serves as its chief executive officer.
He studied computer science at Babcock University and worked on software products and banking systems before Paystack.
Paystack joined Y Combinator's Winter 2016 batch, and Stripe announced an agreement to acquire the company in October 2020.
Akinlade received Nigeria's Officer of the Order of the Niger national honour in October 2022.
In January 2026, Akinlade announced The Stack Group as a parent company for Paystack and other brands, with the proposed ownership structure still subject to regulatory approvals.

Building Paystack

Akinlade built Paystack with co-founder Ezra Olubi to provide payments infrastructure for African businesses. Paystack launched in January 2016 according to Akinlade's Y Combinator interview and participated in the accelerator's Winter 2016 batch. In October 2020, Stripe announced an agreement to acquire the company.

Education and early software career

Akinlade holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Babcock University. Before Paystack, he worked at Heineken as a management trainee, contributed to the open-source collaboration product Precurio and developed software for Nigerian banks.

Recognition and evolving corporate role

Akinlade was conferred Nigeria's Officer of the Order of the Niger national honour in October 2022. In January 2026, he announced The Stack Group as a new parent company for Paystack and other brands and said he would continue to lead the group. The announced ownership structure, involving Stripe, Akinlade and Paystack employees, was described as pending regulatory approvals, and the reviewed evidence did not establish that those approvals had been completed by August 2026.

Affiliations

Paystack Co-founder and chief executive officer present

Timeline

2016-01 Paystack launched in January 2016, according to Akinlade's Y Combinator interview.
2016 Paystack participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2016 batch.
2020-10-15 Stripe announced an agreement to acquire Paystack.
2022-10 Akinlade received the Officer of the Order of the Niger national honour.
2026-01-20 Akinlade announced the creation of The Stack Group, described as a new parent company for Paystack and other brands.

Additional verified details

Current context

Paystack's public team page listed Shola Akinlade as CEO and co-founder.
On January 20, 2026, Akinlade said The Stack Group would have three founding shareholders—Stripe, Akinlade and Paystack employees—and that he would continue to lead the group. This was an announced structure. The announcement said the new ownership structure was pending regulatory approvals, and the reviewed sources did not independently confirm completion of those approvals by August 22, 2026.

Biographical facts

Akinlade built Paystack with co-founder Ezra Olubi.
Akinlade holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Babcock University.
Before Paystack, Akinlade worked at Heineken as a management trainee, worked on the open-source collaboration product Precurio and developed software for Nigerian banks.
Akinlade was conferred Nigeria's Officer of the Order of the Niger national honour in October 2022.