Nigerian fintech, Glade, loses $214,000 to internal hack

This Techstars-backed startup joins the list of fintechs that have suffered losses from breaches to their technology.

Techstars-backed fintech startup, Glade, was the victim of an internal breach. Two sources told TechCabal that the breach led to the loss of $214,000. The company’s CEO, Liyi Victor, confirmed the breach to TechCabal but did not comment on how much was lost. Liyi said that the perpetrators hacked the company’s backend infrastructure and made away with the funds. The case has been reported to law enforcement agencies.

Glade’s hack is the latest in the series of hacks that Nigerian financial service providers have suffered in the past year. Last month, in a story first reported by TechCabal, the crypto startup Patricia lost $2 million to hackers in 2021. The company said this week that it would arraign the hackers to court soon. There were also reports of a hack at another Nigerian bank, Globus. The long list of companies hacked also includes MTN’s MoMo and Flutterwave.

Glade was part of the Techstars Toronto spring program in 2022, where it graduated alongside six African startups and raised $435,000 on demo day. TechCabal asked Techstars if it knew of the breach, but it appears the accelerator had been kept out of the loop.

Sources close to the situation also told TechCabal that the breach at Glade happened in 2022 and involved a former employee. The company also shared that the ex-employee is on the run. Beyond the hack, the company’s co-founder, Temitope Hundeyin, has also left the company.

A contentious co-founder’s exit

Temitope Hundeyin, Glade’s ex-co-founder, told TechCabal that she was sidelined in the running of the business. “Victor Liyi, the CEO, oversees investors, partnerships, and corporate governance.” Hundeyin left the company after the breach.

Liyi pushed back against the claims and told TechCabal that he fired Hundeyin because Glade needed to run leaner operations. He also denied the claim that he makes all the decisions at Glade. “[We have] a management team responsible for the day-to-day running of the company, and some independent advisors that provide objective oversight of the management team.”

But five sources who have worked with Glade disagree with Liyi. One current employee who asked to remain anonymous told TechCabal, “Liyi runs Glade all by himself. He answers to no one and even gets into brawls with investors.”

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