In the past year, four Nigerian startups have collectively paid more than £15 billion to creators, a milestone that seemed impossible just a few years ago. Ten-year-old Selar continues to lead the industry, paying out more than £14bn to creators in 2025 alone and currently has nearly 400,000 creators on its platform.
But Sellers is no longer alone.
Founded in 2023, Nestuge will pay out £1.7bn to creators in 2025 and currently has over 7,000 creators selling a diverse range of digital products. Meanwhile, Youfanly and AllAccessFans paid out £450m and £1.9bn respectively, further highlighting the growing demand for creator-led monetization platforms in the country.
Taken together, these numbers suggest that the sector is no longer aspirational and, for the first time, is showing signs of durability.
Selar CEO Douglas Kendyson cites two key catalysts behind this growth. The first is the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19). With lockdowns forcing millions of people indoors and cutting off traditional sources of income, many have been forced to experiment with alternative ways to make money online. Importantly, these habits persisted even after restrictions were lifted.
The second catalyst, Kendyson argues, was the visibility of early digital creators who proved that selling knowledge and digital products could be a viable business. To be clear, digital content creators are not new to Nigeria. For many years, the field was dominated by information sales gurus who relied heavily on affiliate marketing to generate revenue.
However, the era was often viewed with skepticism. To many observers, the business model was opaque and sometimes questionable. In that context, Seller’s decision to be transparent about creator earnings and the quality of creators (many of whom are professionals) helped change perceptions.
The public payment milestone created both confidence and possibility. This change is evident in Cerar’s trajectory from payments of approximately $1 million (₦435 million ₦35 million at 2021 exchange rates) in 2021 to more than ₦11 billion in 2025.
It’s not just creators who are paying attention. More entrepreneurs are entering the field with similar businesses, betting that monetization for creators will continue to grow. Kendyson sees this influx of competitors as a positive signal rather than a threat, comparing it to the early days of digital payments in Nigeria, when Paystack and Flutterwave helped mainstream online transactions.
“This means the market will become more sensitive to the concept of digital products,” he told Techpoint Africa. “More importantly, consumers will become more comfortable with the idea of people buying digital products.”
Nestuge’s own experience seems to support this view. December 2025 was the startup’s strongest month to date, with the highest trading volume since its launch. CEO Nelson Eze said the company initially set conservative goals for 2025, but seeing Selar’s growth gave him the confidence to think bigger.
Like Selar, Nestuge has grown without outside capital. Eze believes the arrival of more players could help not only with customer education but also with investor validation, proof that the market is real and growing.
Still, he has a keen eye for the real situation in the sector. In his assessment, Nigeria’s creator economy is still in its infancy and has significant room for growth. Nestuge positions itself as a platform for anyone looking to monetize their expertise, but the upper end remains largely untouched. He argues that creator monetization startups in Nigeria have yet to exceed $1 million in annual revenue, highlighting both the immaturity of the market and the scale of the opportunity.
As more platforms emerge, competition for creator royalties is increasing. Eze points out that creators want to feel heard and are quick to switch platforms if they don’t think they’re getting a fair deal. Kendyson echoed this sentiment, noting that the bar to serve users continues to rise as competitors roll out new features.
Staying ahead, he says, depends on Seller’s ability to deeply understand creators’ needs and respond quickly. The fight is no longer just about dividends. It’s all about experience, support and long-term value.
One of the most pressing needs creators continue to express is discovery and audience growth. So far, most platforms have focused on helping creators monetize the audiences they already have. However, the target market for platforms like Selar and Nestuge is largely comprised of professionals with valuable expertise and relatively small numbers of followers.
To address this, Nestuge built a discovery feature that allows users to organically discover creators and expose them to a wider audience. The company is also preparing to launch a new product, Hubs, designed to help creators build communities that they can monetize through memberships.
Eze says the decision to build Hubs came from observing the behavior of creators on the platform. He said the majority of digital products revolve around teaching others how to make money. Although profitable in the short term, he believes this model is neither sustainable nor replicable at scale. Kendyson acknowledges that discovery and audience growth remain key challenges for creators, but says Selar doesn’t yet have a product that solves this challenge for creators.
It is currently unclear which startups will emerge as major players in Nigeria’s creator economy, but one thing is certain: the ecosystem is deepening. More platforms are emerging, creators are earning meaningful income, and consumers are increasingly embracing digital products and content.
