Duplo, a Nigerian startup developing financial operations software for businesses, is turning to banks as a distribution channel for its next growth phase. The company has partnered with Wema Bank, one of Nigeria's oldest lenders, to offer its software through ALAT Business, the bank's digital business banking platform. ALAT, launched in 2017 as Nigeria's first fully digital banking platform, has since become a key channel for Wema Bank's SME and business banking strategy. Duplo's CEO, Yele Oyekola, said the startup intends to replicate this model with additional banks.

Wema Bank became the first commercial bank to distribute Duplo's software. The partnership reflects a broader trend across Africa's financial services sector over the past three years, in which banks and payment networks collaborate with fintech startups to deliver software their business customers demand without developing it internally. For Nigerian banks, the pressure is acute: the country has tens of millions of SMEs that form the backbone of the economy but have historically lacked access to integrated financial management tools, forcing many to rely on manual processes or disconnected software.

In 2023, global card issuer-processor Paymentology partnered with Boya, a Kenyan business spend management startup, and Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), a mid-tier lender, to launch virtual corporate expense cards integrating banking infrastructure with expense management software. In 2024, Mastercard struck a similar partnership with South African fintech SAVA, giving businesses across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt access to expense management, digital accounts, and accounting tools via SAVA's platform.

"A lot of the banks are actually in a shift now where their customers are requesting, or even going to fintech platforms like Duplo and others, to get more than the banks can provide," Oyekola told TechCabal in an interview on Wednesday. "Doing that work as a bank would require layers of approvals and technical resources that might distract them from their core [operation]. That was why it made sense for them [Wema Bank] to work with us."

Founded in 2021 by Oyekola and Tunde Akinnuwa, Duplo builds software that helps businesses manage their finances. Under the Wema Bank partnership, ALAT Business customers can access Duplo's tools without leaving the bank's platform. The software enables companies to automate local and international payments, manage expenses and approval workflows, generate and collect invoices, automate vendor payments, monitor cash flow through real-time reporting, and reconcile transactions from a single dashboard. Existing ALAT Business customers will receive three months of complimentary access, Duplo said in a statement.

Oyekola noted that because Duplo built its platform entirely in-house, it can absorb the cost of offering free access during the introductory period. Duplo and Wema Bank will share subscription revenue from customers who continue using the software after the free trial, though Oyekola declined to disclose specific terms. The startup also generates revenue from transaction fees on payments processed through its platform.

The Wema Bank integration builds on an existing relationship between the two organizations. The lender had previously provided virtual accounts to some of Duplo's customers before the two companies agreed to embed Duplo's software directly into ALAT Business.

While Oyekola said Duplo is open to similar arrangements with other banks, the startup's immediate priority is driving adoption among Wema Bank's small and medium enterprise (SME) and mid-market business customers.

Duplo currently serves over 1,000 businesses, including mid-market and enterprise clients such as Heineken and Maersk, and processes more than $1 billion in annualized payment volume. The startup has raised $13 million across three funding rounds from investors including Point Nine Ventures and Commerce Ventures.

Other startups are also targeting this segment. Companies such as Bujeti and Flex Finance offer expense and spend-management tools directly to businesses, while Côte d'Ivoire's Julaya serves a similar market across Francophone Africa.

Duplo competes in the global business spend management (BSM) software market, which consulting firm Data Insights estimates will reach $26.68 billion in 2026, with the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region accounting for approximately 8% of that market.

"We focus heavily on mid-market and enterprise clients in Nigeria, and they drive a lot of our volumes as well," Oyekola said. "Across [our] portfolio, about 20% of our customers are mid-market to enterprise businesses; we don't serve any business in the MSME space—it's mostly SMEs, mid-markets, and enterprises."

Over the past several years, Duplo has developed a comprehensive financial operating system, with its engineering team comprising the largest share of its workforce. The platform has expanded from payment automation into treasury management, accounts payable, expense management, invoice generation, collections, reconciliation, international vendor payments, and financial reporting.

Oyekola said Duplo's core technology business is now operating at break-even, with revenue fully covering development and maintenance costs. While the company is not yet profitable overall, he said it expects to reach profitability by 2027.

Duplo operates in Nigeria and South Africa but is pursuing different growth strategies in each market. In April, Duplo partnered with fintech Ozow as part of its South Africa expansion, leveraging Ozow's payment infrastructure and regulatory licences to serve local businesses.

"Nigeria is our home market, South Africa is an expansion market," Oyekola said. "We don't have the same reach in South Africa that we have in Nigeria, and there are some gaps in our regulatory framework there. Ozow was the ideal partner for that, so we use Ozow as our payment service provider [PSP] in South Africa. In Nigeria, we provide that end-to-end because we have a PSP and an IMTO [international money transfer operator] [licence] as well."

The Wema Bank partnership illustrates a wider shift in bank-fintech collaboration: banks contribute regulated infrastructure and customer relationships, while startups like Duplo supply the financial management software businesses use daily. If this model gains traction, banks could become one of Duplo's most significant customer acquisition channels.