Flutterwave is a Nigerian

fintech Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are r ...

company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent.

History

The company was founded in 2016 by

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Iyinoluwa Samuel Aboyeji (born March 28, 1991) is a Nigerian entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Andela, and was the former managing director of Flutterwave. Aboyeji was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by ''New African'' maga ...

Olugbenga Agboola Olugbenga Agboola (born 1985) is a Nigerian software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the CEO and co-founder of Flutterwave. Career Born in Lagos, Agboola is a graduate of the MBA program at MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to founding ...

, and Adeleke Adekoya and is headquartered in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

with operations in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, and seven other African countries. In 2021, Flutterwave raised a US$170 million

Series C A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among ...

funding round. At the time, this was the largest amount ever secured by an African tech startup and gave it a valuation of over US$1 billion, making Flutterwave a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

. Investors in Flutterwave include Y-Combinator, Visa Ventures, Mastercard, Avenir Growth Capital, and

Tiger Global Management Tiger Global Management, LLC (often referred to as Tiger Global and formerly known as Tiger Technology) is an American investment firm. It mainly focuses on Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries. Background and histo ...

. Also in 2022, Flutterwave raised a US$250 million Series D funding round at over US$3 billion valuation. In December 2021, Flutterwave launched Send, an African-focused remittances service, and immediately appointed Nigerian Grammy Award-winning international musician, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, popularly known as

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afric ...

as its global ambassador to further push the company's brand among the Africans in the diaspora. In January 2022, Flutterwave partnered AfroSport Network to broadcast the 2021

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

free-to-air from 9 January 2022 to 6 February 2022.

Digital Store

At the peak of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

pandemic, Flutterwave built a digital store to help medium and small-scale businesses that have been badly impacted by the global lockdown to display their products for market online. The store became a turnaround for these businesses that are mainly without digital footprints or without the means to integrate payment into their webpage. Over 20,000 businesses enrolled on the store for free through a campaign called "keeping the lights on".

Switching License

On September 1, 2022,

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reported that the

Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are ...

had granted Flutterwave the country's highest payment processing license, which allows it to process transactions between banks and cards without intermediaries. The switching processing license grants Flutterwave autonomy across the payments ecosystem value chain. This includes processing funds transfers between banks and fintechs, as well as participating in agency banking and other payment services.

Controversy

Kenya Licensing

Kenyan central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge disclosed on July 28, 2022, after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, that Flutterwave and Chipper have not been granted a licence to operate in the country. The clarification of Patrick followed an initial ruling by a Kenyan High Court on July 6, 2022, which froze all assets and accounts of Flutterwave in the country. Flutterwave, in an official response, disclosed that it submitted applications for licensing to the central bank of Kenya in 2019 but has not been granted one.

Money Laundering

In July 2022 a Kenyan High Court froze accounts held by Flutterwave holding over 6.2 billion of

Kenyan shilling The shilling ( sw, shilingi; abbreviation: KSh; ISO code: KES) is the currency of Kenya. It is divided into 100 cents. Notation Prices in the Kenyan shilling are written in the form of , where x is the amount in shillings, while y is the ...

based upon allegations of that the funds were the proceeds of credit card fraud and money laundering after a request from Kenya's Assets Recovery Agency The company has denied accusations of financial misconduct.

Harassment

Flutterwave has been subject to multiple lawsuits and allegations of denying former employees stock rights as well as having a culture of bullying and harassment. In a response, the company stated it has taken action against individuals within the company responsible for harassment.

References

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External links

Official site
Financial services companies established in 2016 Financial technology companies of Nigeria