Nigerian artisans deserve better than Instagram DMs.
We're building the commerce infrastructure that Nigeria's creative economy is missing — so makers can focus on making, not managing.
Walk through any market in Lagos, Ibadan, or Kano and you'll find extraordinary talent — tailors turning ankara into art, jewelers working with local metals, leather craftspeople whose techniques go back generations. Nigeria's creative economy generates an estimated ₦895 billion annually, but almost all of it runs through WhatsApp groups and Instagram DMs.
That means fake payment alerts, no delivery tracking, hours wasted answering “how much?” in DMs, and zero business data. A fashion designer in Yaba with 20,000 Instagram followers still can't tell you her repeat purchase rate or her best-selling product last month. She's running a real business on tools built for sharing selfies.
Arena exists to fix this. We built a complete e-commerce platform specifically for Nigerian artisans and creative sellers. Not a Shopify clone. Not another Jumia. A marketplace that meets sellers where they already are (social media) and gives them the storefront, payments, shipping, and analytics they need to grow.
What we've built
Everything is live in production. No vapor, no coming-soon pages. Real vendors, real transactions.
Backend & Infrastructure
Web Marketplace
Mobile App
Verified Payments
Paystack and Flutterwave. No more fake transfer alerts.
Integrated Shipping
Multiple carriers compared in real-time. Nationwide delivery.
AI Sales Closers
AI replies to Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp DMs in seconds — cutting time-to-checkout and lifting conversion vs. manual replies.
DM-to-Checkout
Every social conversation routes to a paid order. One-click payment links replace back-and-forth.
Business Analytics
Know your best sellers, your margins, your customers.
Grow at Your Pace
Free to start. Upgrade for lower commissions and premium features.
Early proof of concept
We're still in early beta. The numbers below validate the product works end-to-end with real vendors and real buyers — they are not yet traction metrics. Our focus now is commercial scale.
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Active Artisan Vendors
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Handcrafted Products
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Registered Customers
How we make money
Two revenue streams: a commission on every sale, plus optional monthly subscriptions for vendors who want lower rates and more features. As vendors grow, they upgrade — so our incentives are aligned.
| Tier | Commission | Monthly Fee |
|---|---|---|
FREE | 5-12% | Category-based rates, no monthly fee |
BASIC | 10% | ₦5,000/month |
PRO | 7% | ₦15,000/month |
ELITE | 5% | ₦30,000/month |
What's next
We're focused on the things that turn a working product into a growing business.
Hit ₦15M monthly recurring revenue
The threshold that validates commercial demand and signals venture-scale potential to pre-seed investors.
200+ active artisan vendors
Real marketplace liquidity across fashion, art, jewelry, and homeware.
Negotiate direct volume discounts with 3PL partners
Shipping is already live through carrier APIs. The next step is margin — volume deals compress delivery cost and expand vendor take-home.
Drive down CAC through organic social loops
AI-powered DM-to-checkout turns every vendor’s social following into Arena acquisition. Scales GMV without burning paid-ads budget.
The team
Arena was founded by Femi Adeyemo, a Nigerian technical founder based in the US who built the full stack in-house. Execution on the ground is led by our Ibadan-based operations team.
Our local leadership — Mubarak Akingboye (Product Manager), Olasubomi Ogunsola (Marketing Officer), Nafisat Bakare (Assistant Marketing Officer), and Fagbamila Ayomide (Media & Content Officer) — runs vendor acquisition, market operations, and customer engagement directly from Nigeria. They are the people physically navigating the Nigerian market every day.
Operating across both countries gives us a direct line to the Nigerian artisan community and access to the diaspora market — a growing customer base for authentic Nigerian goods.
Meet the full teamLet's talk
We're open to conversations with investors, accelerators, grant programs, and anyone working to strengthen Africa's creative economy.