Acquisition
Oct 2022Helicarrier announced it had acquired a significant equity interest in Accrue; Buycoins Basic began transitioning into Accrue.
SourceCryptocurrency infrastructure for Africa.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Overview
Helicarrier (formerly Buycoins) is an Africa-focused crypto-financial services company founded in 2017. It builds cryptocurrency infrastructure spanning consumer exchange, remittances, OTC desk services, payments tooling, and the Accrue savings/wealth product, with the public record also showing a later headcount shrink and founder departures.
Primary product
Cryptocurrency infrastructure for Africa (Buycoins, Sendcash, Desk, and Accrue)
Founded
2017
Headquarters
Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Team size
1-10 employees
Work style
Remote
Industry
Financial Services
Sub-industry
Cryptocurrency infrastructure / crypto fintech
Offices
Lagos, Lagos 101233, Nigeria (HQ)
Lagos, 101233, Nigeria
Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Business model
consumer crypto exchange
crypto-powered remittance
OTC / private desk services
developer payment APIs
crypto savings / wealth-building app
Funding
Stage
Seed
Total raised
$2.3M
Latest round
Venture Round · Feb 2021
Latest amount
$1M
People & investors
Leadership
Co-founder, CEO & CTO
Co-founder, COO & VP Engineering
Tomiwa Lasebikan
Co-founder & Chief Product Officer
Work & culture
Public reporting describes a remote, asynchronous, trust-based culture. The team used written, tool-based coordination, kept a working-day meeting window, and emphasized direct relationships with co-founders, product sense, customer support, execution speed, and tenacity.
Work style
Remote
Benefits
one-month paid trial period for new hires
Product & market
Pricing
Transaction fees and spread-based pricing for consumer trading and remittance; Desk pricing is private / personalized and not publicly disclosed.
Differentiators
- —Africa-first crypto infrastructure
- —Broad product suite spanning exchange, remittance, desk, and developer tooling
- —Fast crypto-powered remittance to Africa
- —Private high-liquidity desk for businesses and HNIs
- —Accrue integration for savings and virtual USD cards
- —Remote/asynchronous operating culture
Technology
Node.js
Solidity
RSpec
GraphQL
Ethereum
Bitcoin
Litecoin
Microservices
On-ramp infrastructure
Paystack
Stripe
Ruby
Ruby on Rails
JavaScript
TypeScript
React Native
Cloudflare
Customers
African consumers buying, selling, and storing crypto
African diaspora sending money home
businesses and high-net-worth individuals using OTC / private desk services
developers integrating borderless payment experiences
beginners saving and investing through Accrue
users in Nigeria and Ghana
Competitors
Yellow Card
Binance
Luno
Bitmama
Sendwave
Wise
Patricia
Bundle
LocalBitcoins
LocalCryptos
Scale & contact
Estimated monthly visits
194.2K
Traffic estimate as of Feb 2022
Signals & risks
Shutdown
Dec 2023Buycoins Pro was announced for sunset; users were told to withdraw assets while OTC trading remained available.
SourceOther
Feb 2025Techpoint reported that founders had quietly left by 2023, and that Timi Ajiboye had taken full-time employment at The Browser Company in 2025, raising questions about the company’s future.
SourceLatest news
Techpoint Africa · Feb 2025
Reported that company filings showed Ire Aderinokun’s director appointment was set to end in 2023 and Tomiwa Lasebikan’s had ended in 2021; Timi Ajiboye later took a full-time role elsewhere.
Mariblock · Jan 2024
Reported that Buycoins Pro was being discontinued and users were told to withdraw assets over the following three months.
Techpoint Africa · Dec 2023
Summarized the announced sunsetting of Buycoins Pro and noted that OTC trading via Desk would remain available.
Business Post Nigeria · Oct 2022
Covered Helicarrier’s acquisition of a significant equity interest in Accrue and the transition of Buycoins Basic into Accrue.
TechCabal · Oct 2021
Explained the rebrand from Buycoins to Helicarrier, the rationale for the new parent-company identity, and the product suite spanning exchange, remittance, payments, and NGNT.
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