Flutterwave Given The Unicorn Badge As The Startup Raises A $170 Million Series C Round

Nigeria’s Flutterwave has received the unicorn badge as the startup is now evaluated over $1 billion after securing a $170 million Series C round.

Since 2018, Flutterwave has closed a $35 million Series B and a $20 million Series A making them one of the few African startups to have secured more than $200 million in funding.

The round was led by New York-based private investment firm Avenir Growth Capital and U.S. hedge fund and investment firm Tiger Global

New and existing investors who participated include DST Global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft Capital, Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Management, Worldpay FIS 9yards Capital.

Flutterwave builds modern payments technology and infrastructure for Africa to enable people and businesses to connect with the global economy. Its solution enables banks and merchants to replace multiple payment integrations with one simple API, which enables the processing of any form of payment anywhere in Africa.

The company also helps businesses outside Africa to expand their operations on the continent.

The startup’s website shows an active presence in 11 African countries and 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, and Barter by Flutterwave.”

CEO Olugbenga Agboola commented the company is live in 20 African countries with an infrastructure reach in over 33 countries on the continent.

Flutterwave wants to become a global payments company, and the Series C investment helps to reach that goal. The company says it plans to use the funds to speed up customer acquisition in its present markets. It will also improve existing product offerings like Barter, where it has over 500,000 users, and introduce new offerings. One such is Flutterwave Mobile, which in the founder’s words “will turn merchants’ mobile devices into a point of sale, allowing them to accept payments and make sales.”