---
title: "Why Bizao shut down"
description: "Bizao, an Ivorian-founded B2B payments API startup based in Paris, was placed into compulsory liquidation by a Paris court on May 27, 2025 (ruling published June 12, 2025) after failing to secure additional funding or a buyer during a court-supervised receivership process. The company, which processed up to 350 million payment requests per month across several African markets, never achieved sustained profitability across six years of operation."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/bizao"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/bizao.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/bizao/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why Bizao shut down

Bizao, an Ivorian-founded B2B payments API startup based in Paris, was placed into compulsory liquidation by a Paris court on May 27, 2025 (ruling published June 12, 2025) after failing to secure additional funding or a buyer during a court-supervised receivership process. The company, which processed up to 350 million payment requests per month across several African markets, never achieved sustained profitability across six years of operation.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Bizao](/graveyard/bizao)

## Summary

Here lies Bizao. Its APIs let companies accept mobile money and cards across a dozen African markets, up to 350 million requests a month. Six years of volume never turned into profit, and a Paris court called the final settlement.

Bizao, an Ivorian-founded B2B payments API startup based in Paris, was placed into compulsory liquidation by a Paris court on May 27, 2025 (ruling published June 12, 2025) after failing to secure additional funding or a buyer during a court-supervised receivership process. The company, which processed up to 350 million payment requests per month across several African markets, never achieved sustained profitability across six years of operation.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | ShutDown |
| Primary cause | FundingRunway |
| Stage at shutdown | Series A |
| Lifespan in days | 2282 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product attempted

APIs and financial flows letting companies accept local African payment methods — mobile money, Visa/Mastercard, airtime — through a unified platform, operating across countries including Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Tunisia, Senegal and the DRC.

## What worked

Raised an €8 million Series A in 2022 led by AfricInvest's Financial Inclusion Vehicle with Seedstars Africa Ventures and Adelie; reported roughly 20x transaction volume growth and processed up to 300-350 million payment requests per month at peak; generated €6.3M in revenue in 2020.

## Early warning signs

Despite revenue, the company posted a €694K operating loss against a minimal €393K equity cushion in 2020, carried €3.6M in liabilities, and saw revenue roughly flatten from €5.4M to €5.3M between 2022 and 2023; the capital-intensive, multi-country compliance model made profitability difficult.

## What happened

Bizao SAS entered court-supervised receivership in France in March 2025; a court-run bidding process in April 2025 failed to produce a buyer; on May 27, 2025 the Paris Economic Activities Court ordered compulsory liquidation, with the ruling published June 12, 2025 and the company's website taken offline, while some African subsidiaries reportedly continued operating independently.

## Sources

- [Official statement from Bizao](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bizaoofficial/?ref=startupgraveyard.africa): Launch Base Africa
- [Ivorian-Founded Fintech Bizao Placed in Compulsory Liquidation by French Court](https://innovation-village.com/ivorian-founded-fintech-bizao-placed-in-compulsory-liquidation-by-french-court/): Innovation Village

## Related pages

- [Bizao alternatives](/bizao/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/graveyard/bizao)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)