Among the several fintech companies capitalizing on Africa’s booming payments market is the payment technology company, Flutterwave. The Africa-centred company that has the aim of making it easier for Africans to build global businesses that can make and accept payments, anywhere across Africa and around the world, has, in its Series C funding, raised $170 million from investors, raising the company’s worth up to more than $1 billion.
Flutterwave could consider a New York listing, or a possible dual listing in New York and Nigeria, according to its co-founder and Chief Executive, Olugbenga Agboola. According to him, the company generated more than 100% in revenue within the past year. This is as a result of the accelerated shift to digital payments in Africa due to the pandemic. With the newly secured funds, the company will expand its customer base in existing and international markets and develop new products.
The just concluded Series C funding round is preceded by two funding rounding rounds; Series B and Series A funding rounds, and it comes a year after Flutterwave raised a $35 million Series B and a $20 million Series A in 2018. Summing up, Flutterwave has raised $225 million and is one of the few African startups to have secured more than $200 million in funding. The round was led by growth-equity firms Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global. Jamie Reynolds, a partner at Avenir Growth Capital said, ‘Flutterwave is at the forefront of innovation in payments technology. We are excited to support the team as they build the last available payments infrastructure frontier in the world – connecting merchants and consumers intra-Africa and globally’.
Other participants present at the funding round were DST global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft Capital, Insight Ventures, and US financial services and payments company; PayPal.
The completion of Flutterwave’s fundraising round highlights the growing interest in the expanding payments market in Africa. The company which is owned by Nigerians currently has its headquarters in San Francisco, and specialises in individual and consumer transfers. The company operates in 20 African countries, with a reach of over 33 countries on the continent.
Although Flutterwave is expanding, it has not mentioned anything about integrating cryptocurrency in its operations like other payments startups.
