Okra, once Nigeria’s best-known open-banking startup, quietly shut down all operations, including Nebula, the cloud-services spin-off it recently launched.
The company had raised about $16 million from global investors.
The news
- According to Techpoint, a person familiar with the company said Okra ceased trading in May 2025.
- The remaining staff were informed that both the core API business and Nebula have been discontinued; no public statement has been issued.
- Co-founder Fara Ashiru Jituboh had already stepped down to join UK startup Kernel as head of engineering.
Why it matters
Okra was the poster-child for African open banking, promising “one API for all financial data.” Its collapse underscores:
- Regulatory lag — Nigeria’s long-awaited open-banking rules won’t be enforced until August 2025, stalling revenue growth for API providers.
- Currency pain — Dollar-denominated cloud bills ballooned after the naira’s 2023–24 slide, pushing Okra to burn cash or pivot.
- Crowded field — Better-funded rivals Mono and Stitch raised $17.6 million and $52 million, respectively, out-spending Okra on distribution.
Between the lines
- Pivot fatigue: Nebula demanded capex, but Okra never secured the deep pockets needed to battle AWS or local rivals like Nobus and Layer3.
- Regulation came too late: The CBN’s final open-banking launch date (Aug 2025) arrived just as Okra’s runway disappeared.
Source: Techpoint Africa
