The emerging markets-focused payments firm has more than tripled its valuation in less than a year to over $3bn after its latest fund-raising.
With the completion of a $250 million Series D financing, Africa’s fintech company, Flutterwave, increased its worth to more than $3 billion in only twelve months, more than doubling its previous valuation.
It secured $170 million from Tiger Global and Avenir in March 2021, valuing the company at $1 billion. Flutterwave has raised $475 million since it was founded six years ago. It also raised a $35 million Series B in 2020 and a $20 million Series A in 2018. B Capital Group, Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, Lux Capital, and other investors have joined the Nigerian unicorn’s new investors.
The company will use the funds to expand through mergers and acquisitions in Africa and the Middle East in the coming months, said Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Olugbenga Agboola. “We are thinking Egypt or Morocco” and could consider an initial public offering in the medium to short-term, Agboola said in an interview, without giving further details.
We are one step closer to enabling endless possibilities for all at @theflutterwave. Today, we announce one of our biggest milestones ever – our $250M Series D funding led by B Capital Group. https://t.co/039TltTTCy pic.twitter.com/tMpI8Vwum3
— GB
(@TechProd_Arch) February 16, 2022
Flutterwave’s round comes amid increasing interest in Africa as investors target a young and tech-savvy population that’s quickly adopting online financial transactions. Last year, Africa-focused startups raised a record $5 billion.
The funding announcement confirmed a Bloomberg News report in October on the company’s funding plans. Flutterwave reached a $1 billion valuation in last March after raising $170 million in a round led by Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management.
Founded in Nigeria in 2016, Flutterwave facilitates cross-border transactions in multiple currencies for companies, including Uber Technologies Inc., Booking.com and Alibaba’s Alipay. It has processed transactions valued at more than $16 billion in dozens of African countries, and has expanded beyond payments products to an online marketplace as well as lending to small businesses.
Flutterwave’s Agboola, a Nigerian software engineer, has been involved in finance and technology for more than a decade. He contributed to the development of solutions at companies including PayPal.
The San Francisco-based company, with operations from the Nigerian commercial hub of Lagos to Kenya’s capital Nairobi, will continue to grow in East Africa. It will also expand presence in Francophone African nations such as Senegal and Cameroon, said Agboola.
“We’re also thinking beyond Africa,” Agboola said, referring to plans for Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and the Middle East.
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