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TechInAfrica — Fintech startup Flutterwave has raised a $35 million Series B round in a partnership with Worldpay FIS for Africa payment business.
With the funding, Flutterwave, which based in San Francisco and Lagos, plans to invest in technology and business development to grow market share in existing operating countries, CEO Olugbenga Agboola — aka GB — stated on an occasion.
The company also plans to expand capabilities to offer more services around its payment products, therefore, it will provide more solutions around the broader needs of its clients.
GB said, “We don’t just want to be a payment technology company, we have sector expertise around education, travel, gaming, e-commerce, fintech companies. They all use our expertise.”
Founded in Nigeria, the startup’s main business is providing B2B payments services for companies operating in Africa to pay other companies on the continent and abroad.
Flutterwave, which was launched in 2016, allows clients to tap its APIs and work with Flutterwave developers to customize payment applications. Existing customers include Uber, Booking.com, and e-commerce company Jumia.
According to company data, in 2019 Flutterwave processed 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion.
Flutterwave did the payment integration for U.S. pop-star Cardi B’s 2019 performances in Nigeria and Ghana. Those are two of the countries in which the startup operates, apart from South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, the U.K., and Rwanda.
“We want to scale in all those markets and be the payment processor of choice,” GB said.
According to GB, the company will hire more business development staff and expand its development team to create more sector expertise.
“Our business goes beyond payments. People don’t want to just make payments, they want to do something,” he said. Fluterwave also aims to offer more capabilities toward what those clients want to do in Africa.
“If you are a charity that wants to raise money for cancer research in Ghana, or you want to sell online, or you’re Cardi B…who wants to do concerts in Africa…we want to be able to set up payments, write the code and create the platform for those needs,” GB explained.
Built its early client base across global companies, Flutterwave aims to serve smaller African businesses, including startups. Current customers include African-founded tech companies, such as ride-hailing venture Max.ng.
The new round makes Flutterwave the payment provider for Worldpay in Africa.
“With this partnership, any Worldpay merchant in Europe or the U.S. can accept any African payment. If someone goes to pay Netflix with an African card, it just works,” GB said.
In 2019, Worldpay was acquired for a reported $35 billion by FIS, a U.S. financial services provider. At the time of the purchase, it was projected the two companies would generate revenues of $12 billion annually, yet neither has a notable presence in Africa.
FIS’s Head of Ventures Joon Cho confirmed the partnership with TechCrunch. FIS also backed Flutterwave’s $35 million Series B. US VC firms Greycroft and eVentures led the round, with the participation of Visa, Green Visor and African fund CRE Venture Capital.
Flutterwave’s latest funding makes the company’s total investment to $55 million and follows a year in which the fintech venture announced a series of weighty partnerships.
Source: techcrunch.com
