Flutterwave reaches US$3bn valuation after US$250mn Series D

Less than a year after Flutterwave became a unicorn through a funding round co-led by Tiger Global, the fintech has raised US$250mn at a US$3bn valuation

Flutterwave, an African payments technology processor, has secured US$250mn in Series D funding at a valuation of US$3bn.

The new funds will drive Flutterwave’s expansion plan to accelerate customer acquisition in existing markets and growth through M&A; and develop complementary products while encouraging new innovations in its products and services development. 

At US$3bn, Flutterwave is currently the highest valued African startup, surpassing the US$2bn valuation set by SoftBank-backed fintech OPay and FTX-backed cross-border payments platform Chipper Cash last year.

The round was led by B Capital Group, with participation from Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, Lux Capital, and a number of existing investors.

Driving adoption of seamless digital payments 

Since being founded by entrepreneur Olugbenga Agboola in 2016, the Flutterwave team has been on a mission to create endless possibilities for customers and businesses in Africa and the emerging markets. The Series D fundraise comes on the back of an impressive run of five years in which Flutterwave has processed over 200mn transactions worth over US$16bn to date across 34 countries in Africa. It also follows a year of rapid growth for the brand which now serves over 900,000 businesses across the globe. 

David Glynn, Managing Partner of Glynn Capital, said: “We believe the digitisation of payments globally is one of the largest and most important trends in technology. Having been investors in Flutterwave since 2017, we have had a front-row seat in seeing Flutterwave establish itself as a leading payments company in Africa as it drives adoption of seamless digital payments experiences for merchants and consumers alike. We look forward to supporting the company as it addresses its significant growth opportunity in the years ahead.”

 

Introducing new products for customers 

In 2021, Flutterwave launched a range of new products including Flutterwave Market for merchants to sell their goods via an online marketplace and, most recently, Send, a remittance service that empowers customers to seamlessly send money to recipients to and from Africa. 

Flutterwave has also partnered with leading global and pan-African technology and telecommunication companies such as PayPal, MTN, Airtel Africa to drive financial inclusion on the continent and create endless possibilities for customers who can build customisable payment applications through its APIs.

Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said “Our story is that of resilience and hard work. Our growth so far is due to the support of our customers, our partners, the banks, the public, the regulators, and importantly our people. The Central Bank of Nigeria, under the leadership of Dr. Godwin Emefiele, laid the vision of a transformational Payment System in Nigeria, provided the framework for innovation in this space, and has continued to create regulations that have enabled us to grow and thrive. We are grateful to them and to all the other Central Banks in all the countries where we operate. 

“We set out to build a platform that simplifies payments for everyone and today, our solutions are used across the globe to connect Africans to the world and the world to Africans. We are delighted that investors believe in us and our story and are committing their resources to this belief. This latest funding demonstrates the conviction of some of the world’s leading investors in both our business model, team and the Africa technology market. It gives Flutterwave the much-needed support to deliver on our plans to provide the best experience for our merchants and customers around the world.”

 

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