Nigerian fintech startup, Grey announces a brand refresh—new logo and website—as it set to expand into new markets and take its operations global
Grey's latest brand refresh was done to avoid trademark issues as it sets to take it operations global. This new mark is similar to the previous one because, at the core, they represent the same thing
On Monday, November 27, 2023, Nigerian Fintech Startup, Grey, announced a brand refresh—a new logo and website—in its bid to “expand its footprint in the global market and take advantage of significant opportunities in the face of present economic uncertainties.”
Grey which recently celebrated reaching 500,000 users noted in its announcement of the refresh, “During our Trademarking Journey, they said we needed a new logo. So we thought, why not reinvent everything? Welcome to Grey 2.0. Brighter, bolder, better!”
Grey, one of the Nigerian start-ups to participate in the Winter 2022 batch of Y-Combination, a renowned accelerator program for technology startups in the US, was originally known as Aboki Africa.
Aboki Africa set out to make currency exchange easy for Nigerians and according to Idee Obong, CEO and co-founder of Grey, the mission grew quickly, and in a bid to reflect this growth, it rebranded from Aboki Africa to Grey “in line with its updated product offerings and new company focus.”
Read Also: Opay reveals new logo and declares the dawn of a new era
Since the rebrand and introduction of new product offerings, “Grey has helped remote workers, digital nomads, businesses, and freelancers across Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda thrive in the global economy,” said Idee during his latest announcement for Grey’s refresh.
The latest brand refresh by Grey (referred to as Grey 2.0) is “a blend of its history and bold vision for its future,” said Idee.
“Our rebrand isn’t just an aesthetic change but represents our unwavering commitment to redefining the fintech landscape,” wrote Idee. “We’ll leverage our new identity to establish our international presence, connect with an even broader audience, and build lasting relationships worldwide.”
According to Emmanuel Ben-Paul, design and product lead at Grey, the decision was necessary as they intend to expand into new markets and offer more services users were requesting. “In our bid to expand into new markets and operate globally, it was necessary for us to register our trademark. During our research, we discovered that there might be a bit of an issue with our previous logo and to avoid any issue, we decided to carry out this brand refresh,” Ben-Paul told The Creatives Note. “This new mark is similar to the previous one because, at the core, they represent the same thing; sending money to and fro. But this new one is clearer and distinct.”
Ben-Paul revealed that an external team was contracted to design the new logo itself but other part of the refresh like the website and dashboard was done by the in-house team. “Our designs at Grey have always been done in-house but for the new identity (logo), we had to make an exception. We contracted it out to an external team. But other things like the website and product were designed and developed by the in-house design team made up of 3 product designers and 3 brand designers,” said Ben-Paul.
With this refresh, Grey joins the growing list of African fintech startups that have redesigned their logo in recent months.
