Flutterwave
“Can Flutterwave evolve from cross-border payments gateway into Africa's full-stack financial infrastructure — owning the rails, the deposits, and the credit?”
Founded2016
HQSan Francisco, California, U.S. / Lagos, Nigeria
FoundersIyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola
Total raised$475M+
Latest roundSeries D, 2022
Valuation$3B+ (2022)
IndustryInfrastructure / Payments
The story
Founded in 2016 as a payments gateway connecting African merchants to global card schemes and bank rails. Spent the first six years building cross-border collection and disbursement rails for enterprises like Uber and SMBs across 30+ African countries. The 2026 acquisition of Mono — and the microfinance bank license it brought — marks the deliberate shift from payments-only intermediary to a full-stack financial infrastructure provider: owning open banking rails, holding deposits, and issuing loans on its own balance sheet rather than via partner banks.
Product timeline
2016
Founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola as a pan-African payments infrastructure company.· pivot
2021
Partnered with Currencycloud to enable multi-currency accounts for businesses receiving global payments.· banking
2021
Series C raised $170M at $1B valuation — Africa's first unicorn moment for Flutterwave.· ipo
2022
Launched Flutterwave Capital — embedded lending marketplace with CashConnect, Indicina, Keystone, Migo, Wema, Zenith, Sterling Bank.· lending
2022
Awarded Switching & Processing license by CBN — enabling direct transaction processing in Nigeria.· banking
2022
Series D raised $250M at $3B+ valuation, led by B Capital.· ipo
2026
Acquired Mono — Africa's leading open banking platform — to own account-based payment rails.· acquisition
2026
Secured national microfinance banking license via Mono acquisition; now holds deposits and issues loans directly.· banking
Regulated entities
Switching & Processing
Nigeria (CBN) · 2022
Flutterwave
PSSP (Payments Services Solutions Provider)
Nigeria (CBN)
Flutterwave
IMTO (International Money Transfer Operator)
Nigeria (CBN)
Flutterwave
National Microfinance Banking License
Nigeria (CBN) · 2026
Flutterwave (via Mono acquisition)
MSB
Canada (FINTRAC)
Send App by Flutterwave
Payments Regulation
Cameroon (BEAC)
Send App by Flutterwave
ICO Registration
United Kingdom
Flutterwave UK Limited
The stack
Payments / PSP
Banking / BaaS
Lending
Open banking
FX & payouts
Accounting gap: significant