MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Flutterwave Raises $250m in Equity Round Led by B Capital, Eyes Expansion Beyond Africa

Flutterwave, a US-based financial technology (fintech) firm active in 34 African countries, recently raised USD 250 million in a Series D equity round, giving it a valuation of USD 3 billion. The funding round was led by US-based investment firm B Capital Group, with three other US-based investors also buying into the company for the first time: Alta Park Capital, Lux Capital and Whale Rock Capital. Other participants in the round were previous investors in the firm, including Avenir Growth, Glynn Capital, Green Visor, Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global. Flutterwave’s Series A round – which was in the amount of USD 20 million – dates back to 2018.

Regarding Flutterwave’s product development for small and medium businesses (SMBs), CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola reportedly said, “we saw the opportunity in the SMB space, and how they require the same technology pie the Ubers and Netflixes of this world use. Some of this is evident in how we expanded the Flutterwave Store, which allows small businesses anywhere in Africa to create an e-commerce shop online at zero cost scale.” Flutterwave Store, whose name recently was changed to Flutterwave Market, allows 30,000 merchants to sell their products online. Flutterwave’s other products include Barter, a mobile app that assists individuals with budgeting; Rave, a business-to-business payment service; Send, which offers international remittances; and Grow, which facilitates African companies in getting established in the UK and US.

Used by 900,000 businesses, Flutterwave reportedly “processes 200 million transactions worth more than USD 16 billion.” It also is seeking to expand into markets in the Middle East and Latin America “and eventually the US, the UK, Europe.”

By Sheen Gupta, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

TechCrunch article
https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/16/african-fintech-flutterwave-triples-valuation-to-over-3b-after-250m-series-d/

Flutterwave homepage
https://flutterwave.com

B Capital Group homepage
https://www.bcapgroup.com

Alta Park Capital homepage
https://www.altaparkcapital.com

Lux Capital homepage
https://luxcapital.com

Whale Rock Capital homepage
https://www.whalerockcapital.com

Previous MicroCapital article on Flutterwave
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-flutterwave-alibaba-groups-alipay-to-offer-digital-payments-between-africa-china/

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