A new Nigerian online marketplace, Havyn, has entered the country’s digital commerce space with a model designed to address trust concerns associated with buying and selling through informal social media channels.
The platform’s Co-Founders, Mr Ayodeji Falase and Mr Ayotunbokun Ajasin, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday.
Falase said the idea was conceived after observing the volume of transactions conducted daily through WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Falase said that many online sellers required buyers to make upfront payments before goods were delivered, creating uncertainty for consumers, who had no assurance that the products would arrive as advertised.
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“Havyn was created to bridge the trust gap by introducing a third party into transactions, protecting the buyer’s money while ensuring that sellers receive payment after fulfilling their obligations.
“We thought, what if we could create a platform where a third party steps in, and then we protect the buyers’ money, but then the sellers too, once they deliver as promised, they’ll also get paid,”he said.
Falase said, “we discovered that the concept was relatively unfamiliar to many Nigerians and that sending payment links to buyers and sellers who had never heard of the company created another layer of distrust,”he said.
He said that sellers were also reluctant to wait for their money after delivering goods.
“The company consequently changed its model from a standalone escrow service to a marketplace where vendors could list their products and buyers could purchase them through the platform,”Falase said.
Speaking on the takeoff of the business, Ajasin said that the founders came together in November 2025 and launched Havyn in March 2026, initially as an escrow service.
Ajasin said that the marketplace was still relatively new territory in Nigeria, with visibility and vendor acquisition among the major challenges confronting the startup.
“We believe we’re one of the front runners in exploring it,”he said.
Despite being a new entrant, Ajasin said that the company had recorded about 700 signups and more than 200 orders, with no reported disputes so far.
The Co-founder said the platform works with Fez Delivery for logistics, with deliveries taking a minimum of about two days and sometimes up to five days.
“We also introduced a seller-rating system, called the “Havyn Score”, which allows buyers to review sellers based on their experience,”he said.
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Ajasin said the platform’s escrow arrangement also enables buyers to return products that do not correspond with what they ordered and receive their money back.
He said the startup was using discounts, promotions, cashback, referrals, newsletters and social-media engagement to encourage users to remain on the platform.
The founders said the immediate priority was to increase awareness, attract more vendors and build a stronger user base in Nigeria before expanding into other African markets.
They identified Ghana and Kenya as their immediate expansion targets and said the broader goal was to establish the platform in three to five African countries within three to five years.
