Nigerian fintech unicorn Flutterwave expands to India

Flutterwave, which is based in San Francisco and Lagos and led by Nigerian tech billionaire Olugbenga Agboola, has expanded its operations to India, the world’s largest democracy and an emerging hub for technology.

The expansion follows a partnership with IndusInd Bank Ltd., one of India’s leading financial services providers. The move is also part of Flutterwave’s ongoing efforts to broaden its global footprint and streamline cross-border remittances.

“The Indian expansion for Flutterwave will be the first African company to do this at a scale where remittances from India to Africa become seamless and quick,” co-founder Agboola said, according to Bloomberg.

Flutterwave is one of about four or six unicorns ($1 billion-plus startups) in Africa. According to Agboola, the chief executive of the company, he started the company to make it easy for Africans to make or receive international payments.

“We started Flutterwave due to the fragmented nature of payments in Africa— there were multiple ways of making and receiving payments within countries but cross-border payments remained a hassle. This made it difficult for individuals like myself or businesses to make or receive international payments in Africa,” he told Shoppe Black.

Today, Flutterwave does not only support international payments for over 34 countries but also processes payments across 150 currencies. Also, the fintech has over 300,000 businesses using its solutions to receive money from customers.

When COVID-19 hit and countries instituted lockdown measures that affected brick-and-mortar businesses, Flutterwave assisted many of Africa’s shops and restaurants by hosting digital storefronts. This initiative helped 200,000 small businesses suddenly without foot traffic set up online shops, receive payments and arrange delivery options, according to Time.

In 2020 alone, the company processed more than 80 million transactions, worth $7.5 billion, cementing itself as Africa’s foremost payment-solution provider.

Flutterwave in March 2021 raised $170 million in a Series C round. Similarly, it raised a $35 million Series B in 2020 and a $20 million Series A in 2018.

In February 2022, Flutterwave reached a $3 billion valuation after raising $250 million in its single-biggest funding round. The valuation made it the “highest valued” African startup.

The funding round was led by U.S.-based B Capital Group, with participation from Alta Park Capital and Whale Rock Capital. Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Global, Green Visor Capital and Glynn Capital, all existing investors, also participated, FT.com reported.