Flutterwave now valued $1 billion after $170 million grant

Nigerian payments company announced that it is worth over $1 billion after closing a $170 million Series C round.

TechCrunch reports that the funding 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 in this round include DST Global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft Capital, Insight Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Management, Worldpay FIS 9yards Capital.

The Series C round comes a year after Flutterwave closed its $35 million Series B and $20 million Series A in 2018. In total, Flutterwave has raised $225 million and is one of the few African startups to have secured more than $200 million in funding.

Launched in 2016 as a Nigerian and U.S.-based payments company with offices in Lagos and San Francisco, Flutterwave helps businesses build customisable payments applications through its APIs.

When Flutterwave raised its Series B, it was reported that the company had processed 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion.

Those numbers have increased to over 140 million transactions worth more than $9 billion according to Techcrunch.

Flutterwave said more than 290,000 businesses use its platform to carry out payments.

The company in a statement noted that it has the capacity to do payments “in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes including local and international cards, mobile wallets, bank transfers, Barter by Flutterwave.”

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

January 2020 marked a boost for Flutterwave in its fifth year when it raised a $35 million Series B round and announced a partnership with Worldpay FIS for payments in Africa.

With the latest funding, Agboola said the company will invest in technology and business development to grow market share in existing operating countries.

Agboola said his company grew more than 100% in revenue within the past year due to the pandemic without giving specifics on numbers. It also contributed to its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 226% from 2018.

The Flutterwave CEO said the company’s growth resulted from an increase in activities in “COVID beneficiary sectors” — a term used by Flutterwave to describe sectors positively impacted by the pandemic. They include streaming, gaming, remittance, and e-commerce, among others.