Side-by-side comparison of AI visibility scores, market position, and capabilities
Merged with MaxAB (Aug 2024); 450K+ African merchants; pivoting toward fintech to improve margins in 2025.
Wasoko is a B2B e-commerce platform serving informal retailers (dukas, kiosks, and small shops) across sub-Saharan Africa, enabling them to order fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) via app, phone, or field agents with next-day delivery. In August 2024, Wasoko completed its merger with Cairo-headquartered MaxAB, forming the largest network of B2B informal retail merchants in Africa, with over 450,000 merchants across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, and Morocco and approximately 4,000 employees. Co-CEOs Daniel Yu (Wasoko) and Belal El-Megharbel (MaxAB) lead the combined entity.
Q2 2025: Gross profit $2.5B (+14% YoY), adjusted operating income $550M (+38% YoY); raised full year guidance to $10.17B gross profit (+14% YoY); mid-market merchants 45% of GPV with 20% annual growth
Square was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey to enable any business owner to accept card payments with a smartphone and simple dongle, democratizing point-of-sale infrastructure that had been gated behind expensive hardware and merchant account applications. The founding insight — that payment acceptance was a software problem, not a financial services gatekeeping function — transformed the merchant services market. Square's core technology evolved from a card reader into a full commerce operating system covering payments, POS software, inventory, scheduling, and loyalty.\n\nSquare's platform serves businesses from sole-proprietor food stalls to multi-location retailers with Square POS, Square Online for e-commerce, Square Payroll, Square Loans, Square Marketing, and hardware including terminals and kitchen display systems. It is designed to provide enterprise-grade commerce functionality without enterprise-grade implementation complexity. Square is a subsidiary of Block, Inc. — renamed from Square, Inc. in 2021 — alongside Cash App and Afterpay.\n\nSquare generated $2.5 billion in gross profit in Q2 2025, up 14% year-over-year, with Block raising full-year 2025 guidance to $10.17 billion. It competes with Shopify, Toast, and Stripe, differentiating through hardware-to-software integration, SMB focus, and embedded financial services including Square Loans and Afterpay. Its combination of payment processing scale, business management software, and embedded financial products positions it as the most comprehensive commerce platform for US SMBs.
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