African payments startup, Flutterwave has hit “unicorn” with over $1 billion valuation after raising $170 million in its Series C funding round.
The company made the announcement in a blogpost on Wednesday.
“Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, today announces it has secured USD $170 million from a leading group of international investors as part of a successful Series C round. The round was led by growth-equity firms Avenir Growth Capital (“Avenir”) and Tiger Global Management LLC (“Tiger Global”) with participation from new and existing investors.
“Founded by entrepreneur Olugbenga Agboola in 2016, the company’s valuation is considered to be valued at more than USD $1 billion. The fundraise brings the total investment in Flutterwave to USD $225 million and is one of only a very small number of African fintech companies to have raised significant funds in a period of widespread disruption and economic uncertainty.
“The new funds will allow Flutterwave to execute an ambitious growth strategy to become a leading global payments company, empowering SMEs and multinational brands by connecting the highly fragmented African digital payments landscape. Flutterwave will invest the new capital to accelerate customer acquisition in existing and international markets, as well as develop complementary and innovative products such as the newly launched Flutterwave Mobile, an app to help accelerate ecommerce growth as a result of the success of the Flutterwave Stores.
“This fundraise comes at a time when Covid-19 has accelerated the shift to digital payments in Africa, which has contributed to Flutterwave’s exceptional revenue growth of 226% CAGR from 2018-2020,” the post read in part.
Read Also: Don’t be harsh on herdsmen – Gombe gov tells Southern counterparts
The company raised $35 million in its Series B funding round after an initial $20 million raised in its Series A in 2018.