African financial-technology company Flutterwave raises $170m, currently valued at over $1bn

Flutterwave, a global payment solutions business, has closed a $170m Series C funding round, the largest amount ever secured by an African tech startup and one that gives it “unicorn” status with a value of over $1bn.

As reported variously by online platforms, including Tech Crunch and Disrupt Africa, Flutterwave is one of several fintech groups aiming to facilitate and capitalise on a booming African payments market driven by increased mobile phone use and faster internet speeds.

Launched in 2016 and  headquartered in San Francisco, Flutterwave builds modern payments technology and infrastructure for Africa to enable people and businesses to connect with the global economy.

Flutterwave says more than 290,000 businesses use its platform to carry out payments. And according to the company’s statement, they can do so “in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes including local and international cards, mobile wallets, bank transfers, Barter by Flutterwave.”

The Nigerian payments startup has an active presence in 11 African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, and at the time of its Series B just over one year ago had processed 100 million transactions valued at over $5.4bn for global leaders including Uber and Booking.com.

The funding is for expansion into new markets.

“Its solution enables banks and merchants to replace multiple payment integrations with one simple API, which enables processing of any form of payment anywhere in Africa,” Disrupt Africa reports.

The startup is one of Africa’s most-backed, raising $10m in Series A funding in August 2017, an extension round in 2018, and a $35m Series B in January of last year.

It has now added to that funding with a record-breaking Series C round worth $170m, which takes the value of the company to over $1bn.

Speaking with news outlets, Flutterwave’s CEO and co-founder Olugbenga Agboola, said, “We may consider the possibility of listing in New York or a possible dual listing in New York and Nigeria.”