Flutterwave reached unicorn status in 2021 with a 170 million dollar round, the largest for an African start-up at the time.
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave grew from a payments start-up into a platform licensed in 34 African countries, and in 2026 acquired the open-banking company Mono.
Flutterwave was founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola. It provides payment infrastructure for merchants and payment service providers, is headquartered in San Francisco, and operates in the United States, Canada, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa and 29 other African countries.
The rounds
- 2021: a 170 million dollar Series C, at the time the largest amount ever raised by an African tech startup, valuing it at over 1 billion dollars.
- 2022: a 250 million dollar Series D at a valuation of over 3 billion dollars.
Investors have included Y Combinator, Visa Ventures, Mastercard, Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management.
Products and moves
In December 2021 it launched Send App, an African-focused remittance service. In August 2024 it obtained a Ghana licence, the 34th African country where it holds a licence. In January 2026 it acquired Mono, a Lagos-headquartered open banking infrastructure provider founded in 2020, in an all-stock transaction, and in April 2026 received a national microlender licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Flutterwave is a good illustration of licences as a moat: each new country licence is a slow, practical step that opens a new market.
