Mainstack

Mainstack provides no-code tools that let creators, solo professionals and small businesses present their work online and collect payments from customers in other countries. The product set includes storefront creation, media kit and portfolio pages, booking and event/class setup, invoicing, subscription and billing management, multi-currency pricing, analytics, and API tools for payments. Sellers can offer professional services as well as digital content such as e-books and videos, or run classes, workshops, webinars and events, while being paid in local currency regardless of where their buyers are located.

The company positions itself around removing the friction of cross-border collection: it handles multi-currency pricing, billing and subscription management, and tax compliance so that sellers can "sell globally, like a local." Onboarding is segmented into three paths — creators monetizing expertise through courses, digital products, coaching and events; businesses accepting payments for services, subscriptions and invoices; and affiliates who earn commissions promoting other sellers' products. Third-party profiles categorize Mainstack as a fintech operating in the creator economy, digital payments and e-commerce verticals with a B2B2C model.

Founding story

Co-founders Ayobami Oyaleke and Olamide Akinola grew up in Nigeria and met there in 2017 through a mutual friend, bonding over a shared interest in technology and startups. Akinola moved to the United States that year and worked as a technical product lead at Google; Oyaleke followed a year later and worked as a business analyst at Meta. The two were roommates for three years while exchanging startup ideas. Oyaleke's own experience of waiting three to four weeks and paying heavy fees to convert payments from U.S. clients into local currency while in Nigeria — a problem he later saw repeated among peers at a Meta- and U.S. government-sponsored accelerator — became the basis for the product. They launched a pre-beta in January 2022, and after early traction quit their jobs to build the company full time, with Akinola as CTO and Oyaleke as CEO.

Business model

Mainstack operates a freemium software-plus-payments model. The core toolset is offered free, and the company earns revenue by taking a percentage of transactions processed through its global payment tool and by selling a subscription tier that unlocks advanced features such as QuickBooks integration. Third-party profiling describes the monetization mix as payment processing fees, freemium and subscription SaaS.

Two primary streams: a share of payment volume processed through Mainstack's global payment infrastructure, and subscription fees for advanced functionality layered on top of a free core product.

Traction

The January 2022 pre-beta attracted roughly 3,000 users processing about $100,000 in transaction volume within a month, driven by minimal marketing. By September 2023 the company's website reported users in 125 countries. Mainstack was selected for the 2023 TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield Top 20.

Latest developments

Signup now segments users into creator, business and affiliate tracks, and the company's positioning has expanded to multi-currency pricing, billing and subscription management, and tax compliance for cross-border sellers.