About us
We started with payments. We’re building for better banking.
We began building IMARA in 2024. In 2025, we launched IMARA Pay, our first product for payment gateways. That beginning shapes our work across banking and financial technology.
Our story
We started building IMARA Financial Technologies in 2024 with a clear ambition: to make the systems behind banking and payments work better for the people and businesses that depend on them.
In 2025, we launched our first product, IMARA Pay. Built for payment gateways, it marked the beginning of our product journey and gave our broader vision a practical starting point: payments.
Our focus extends from payment technology to core banking, digital banking and the connections between financial systems. We want to help institutions build services that are easier to use, operate and connect. We approach that work with the same care for the everyday details that brought us to payments.
The name
IMARA
Imara comes from Swahili and means strong, firm and stable. It reflects what we believe financial infrastructure must be — and the standard we hold our engineering to.
Ownership
A Relia Ventures Company
IMARA Financial Technologies is part of Relia Ventures. Our focus is on building financial technology with a long-term commitment to the institutions and businesses it serves.
Our journey
From our first idea to what comes next.
Our journey from building the company to launching IMARA Pay and developing our broader banking vision.
We started building IMARA.
Our company began with a focus on the technology behind everyday finance: how businesses accept payments and how financial systems connect.
Our first product: IMARA Pay.
We launched IMARA Pay, our payment gateway product, taking our first step from building the company to bringing a product to market.
Building beyond payments.
Our focus is on developing core banking, digital banking and connected payment technology, building on the foundation we started with IMARA Pay.
Our first product · Launched in 2025
IMARA Pay
Payment gateway technology.
Payments were our starting point.
Accepting a payment is an everyday part of running a business. Behind that moment are systems that need to communicate clearly and reliably. IMARA Pay is where our product journey began, with a focus on payment gateway technology.
As we build on that foundation, our ambition is to bring payments and banking closer together, helping businesses and financial institutions connect their services.
Talk to us about IMARA PayOur vision
A future where businesses and people can access financial services that work together, across Somalia, East Africa and beyond.
Our mission
To build dependable payment and banking technology that helps businesses accept payments and financial institutions serve their customers better.
What guides us
Engineering principles.
Reliability
Financial infrastructure must be available when it matters. We design for resilience, recovery and predictable behaviour under load.
Security
Security is engineered into every layer — from identity and encryption to audit trails and operational controls.
Interoperability
We build on open standards such as ISO 20022 so institutions can connect to each other and to the wider ecosystem.
Integrity
Clear data ownership, double-entry accounting and full traceability of every transaction.
Where we focus
Rooted in the region. Built to international standards.
Somalia
Supporting the modernisation of banking and payment systems as the financial sector grows and formalises.
East Africa
Contributing to interoperable, real-time payments and digital banking across the region.
International markets
Bringing infrastructure engineered to international standards to institutions wherever they operate.
Let's engineer your next financial platform.
Whether you are modernising a national payment system, replacing a core banking platform or launching digital services, our team is ready to discuss your requirements.