W0W! After raising $179m, Nigeria's $1billion valued Flutterwave eyes New York listing
chuks oti
Mar 10, 2021
Nigeria-founded payments company Flutterwave has raised $170 million from investors to expand its customer base, pushing its valuation up to more than $1 billion.
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Founded in 2016 by Nigerians and headquartered in San Francisco, the company specialises in individual and consumer transfers. It is Africa-focused.
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The company's CEO now said it could consider a New York listing.
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Flutterwave is one of several fintech groups aiming to facilitate and capitalise on a booming African payments market driven by increased mobile phone use and faster internet speeds.
"We may consider the possibility of listing in New York or a possible dual listing in New York and Nigeria,ÔÇØ Flutterwave's CEO and co-founder Olugbenga Agboola told Reuters in a telephone interview late on Tuesday.
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Flutterwave on Wednesday said it had "secured $170 million from a leading group of international investorsÔÇØ to expand its customer base in existing and international markets and to develop new products.
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"The company's valuation is now in excess of $1 billion. The fundraise brings the total investment in Flutterwave to $225 million,ÔÇØ it said in a statement, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic had accelerated the shift to digital payments in Africa.
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The fundraising round was led by Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management LLC.
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"Flutterwave is at the forefront of innovation in payments technology,ÔÇØ said Jamie Reynolds, a partner at Avenir Growth Capital.
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"We are excited to support the team as they build the last available payments infrastructure frontier in the world - connecting merchants and consumers intra-Africa and globally.ÔÇØ
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Other backers in this funding round included venture capital firms Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital and Greycroft Capital, as well as U.S. payments company Paypal.
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The completion of the fundraising round, a little more than a year after Flutterwave announced a partnership with Visa and Worldpay, highlights the growing interest in the burgeoning payments market in Africa.
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In October U.S. payments company Stripe bought Nigerian fintech business Paystack for $200 million and in late 2019 Visa bought a 20% stake in Nigerian payments company Interswitch, the main platform for the country's business-to-business transactions. Reuters/NAN
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— chuks oti