Pan-African P2P Crypto Startup, VIBRA, Shuts Down in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana

VIBRA, the Pan-African P2P cryptocurrency platform co-founded by Vincent Li, has ceased its operations in all 3 of its markets:

• Nigeria
• Kenya
• Ghana

VIBRA had secured $6 million in funding in 2021. Participants in the round included:

• Lateral Frontiers VC
• CRE Venture Capital
• Musha Ventures
• Dragonfly Capital

According to reports in Nigeria, VIBRA had said it was undergoing a strategic pivot following emails to customers back in July 2023.

However, employees who spoke to a local publication dismissed the idea of a strategic pivot. Moreover, even though Co-Founder Li, who is also a Co-Founder of the Web3 accelerator, Adaverse, had told reporters the company was only shutting down in Nigeria, this is not the case.

When Africa Blockchain Lab initially announced that it had secured $6 million for VIBRA back in December 2021, the stated objective was to ‘promote the widespread adoption of digital assets and blockchain technologies in Africa.’

The startup had an educational initiative called #VIBRAinClass, which allowed experts to earn income by teaching Africans about blockchain. Tutors had the opportunity to earn up to $400 or $100 per class over the course of 4 months. Students could also earn up to ₦1,000 in each class. Nevertheless, it seems that the slowdown in the cryptocurrency sector dissuaded potential new participants.

In addition to education, the approach of using incentives for customer acquisition, which is common in blockchain startups, turned out to be quite costly for the company.

“Nigerians are very crypto-curious and are willing to try new ways to earn money, but they also have huge expectations of crypto companies,” said a former employee.

“Nigerians see cryptocurrencies as a path to quick wealth creation. You need to be able to fly ten people out to Dubai to impress them,” added the former employee.

VIBRA joins Pillow, another startup which decided to halt operations in Nigeria and Ghana in June 2023. The closure of Pillow was attributed to the existing regulatory environment and its influence on the connected financial infrastructure.

VIBRA also joins LazerPay, another Web3 African startup which shut down in April 2023 after failing to secure additional funding.