Cellulant

Founded
2002 / 2003 in Nairobi, Kenya by Ken Njoroge and Bolaji Akinboro. The idea famously started from a sketch on a napkin and evolved into a major pan-African payments platform.

Founders & Leadership
Ken Njoroge – Co-Founder
Bolaji Akinboro – Co-Founder
Leadership transitioned as growth progressed, with Akshay Grover and later Peter O’Toole stepping into CEO roles in the 2020s as part of strategic evolution.

Location
Nairobi, Kenya — with a pan-African presence in multiple markets.

Industry
FinTech / Digital Payments Infrastructure — servicing merchants, banks, mobile network operators, governments and consumers across Africa.

Overview
Cellulant is a pan-African digital payments technology company that aims to simplify how payments are made and received across the continent by providing a unified payment platform (often branded “Tingg”) that supports online and offline collections, payouts, reconciliation, and multiple payment methods including mobile money, cards and bank transfers.
Originally starting with mobile content and then mobile banking services, the company pivoted early to digital payments infrastructure and has since expanded to support merchants and enterprises, financial institutions, and governments.

Core Features & Capabilities
Unified Payments API: Enables businesses to collect and disburse payments from a single integration point across multiple countries and payment methods.
Online & Offline Payment Collection: Supports merchant checkout, payment links, mobile money, cards, and bank transfers.
Tingg Platform: Cellulant’s flagship platform used for payment processing, payouts and merchant services.
Enterprise & Bank Integrations: Partnerships with banks, mobile network operators, and tech platforms to enable broad digital payment acceptance.
MSME Solutions: Partnerships aimed at serving small and medium enterprises with digital payments and working-capital support.

Target Market
Large enterprises and merchants needing flexible, scalable digital payment infrastructure.
Banks and financial institutions integrating digital payment rails for their customers.
Mobile network operators (MNOs) collaborating on mobile money and digital wallet integrations.
SMEs and MSMEs increasingly moving to digital payment acceptance.

Value Proposition
Single API for Multiple Payment Methods: Simplifies integration for businesses needing a unified payment interface across channels.
Pan-African Reach: Robust support across many countries and payment ecosystems, enabling cross-border commerce and digital inclusion.
Financial Inclusion: Helps connect the unbanked and under-banked into digital transaction ecosystems, supporting economic participation.
Reliable & Scalable Infrastructure: Handles billions in payment volume and high transaction throughput for enterprises and governments.