Flutterwave, a FinTech firm based in Nigeria announced that it has raised USD 170 million in its Series C round of funding. The funding was led by Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management. Since its launch 5 years ago Flutterwave has raised USD 225 million including the latest round of funding.
The company has a goal to connect Africa's disjointed financial ecosystem and aims to establish itself as a leader in the emerging region as a global payments firm. The latest round of funds will help bring the company closer to that objective.
Flutterwaves' Plans for the USD 170 Million
Recently Flutterwave launched its mobile application in an attempt to increase its eCommerce presence. The mobile application is complementary to Flueerwave Stores the company's portal that helps African merchants create their own digital stores.
The company will also utilize the funds raise to increase its client base as well as add to its product and service offering. They plan to partner with Worldpay and Visa, the funds will help achieve this partnership. The company already has cooperation with Worldpay that was established last year. This positions them as the payment provider for all of Worldpay's customers. Worldpay hopes the cooperation with Flutterwave will help them gain a stronger foothold in Nigeria's rapidly growing payments market.
When talking about the Series round of funding CEO and Founder, Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola said that the payment ecosystem in Africa was very scrappy back in 2016. Flutterwave has been making efforts since then to create a pan-African platform that aims to simplify payments for all stakeholders. Agboola also mentioned that the company is considering listing in New York or a dual listing in both Nigeria and New York.
See also: Payoneer and Mastercard Partner to offer B2B Digital Purchasing Card
About Nigeria's Fintech Potential
According to McKinsey, in 2019 Nigerian Fintech Companies raised funding of USD 122 million i.e 25% of all funding rasied by tech start-ups in Africa. A high youth population and increasing use of smartphones have created a strong demand for fintech products. SMBs in Nigeria are also on the lookout for more robust payment solutions. A common complaint by Fintech users in Nigeria is that the user experience is extremely poor.
More about Flutterwave and Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola
Forbes included Olugbenga in their 40 under 40 in finance list for 2020. Agboola is one of the founders and the current CEO of Flutterwave. Along with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Agboola founded the company back in 2016. Their goal was to create a payments technology infrastructure that will connect Africa to the global economy by making international and local payments seamless.
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Feature image: Medium.com