Cellulant CEO Akshay Grover is stepping down from his position

Akshay Grover, the Group CEO of Cellulant, a leading African payment company, will step down in order to focus on personal matters. Grover joined Cellulant in January 2021 as CFO and became Acting CEO in May 2021 after the resignation of previous CEO and co-founder, Ken Njoroge.

Cellulant has affirmed its commitment to continue on its current growth path.

Peter O’Toole, the company’s current CFO, has been appointed as the Acting CEO. The company also announced plans to bring new members into its leadership team in the upcoming months.

Cellulant, which started as a ringtone-selling platform back in 2003, has adapted its business model to connect banks to the M-PESA payments ecosystem. It expanded its operations to countries such as Zambia, Ghana, and Botswana and formed payment partnerships with international firms such as StanChart.

Before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cellulant had raised $1.5 million, $5.5 million, and $47.5 million across three funding rounds and was seeking a $100 million series D round in 2022.

However, the 2023 business environment presented challenges for the firm. At the beginning of 2023, the company laid off 27 staff members and in August 2023, it dismissed 20% of its workforce. The restructuring was carried out to create “leaner and efficient operations”.