Flutterwave was founded in 2016 by Olugbenga “GB” Agboola and Iyinoluwa “E” Aboyeji in Lagos, Nigeria, though its headquarters are officially in San Francisco. The company was built to solve Africa’s fragmented payment infrastructure — a continent with 54 countries, dozens of currencies, and hundreds of mobile money networks.
Flutterwave’s API lets businesses accept payments from African customers using local methods: mobile money, bank transfers, cards, USSD, and Barter (Flutterwave’s consumer app). It also handles cross-border settlements, converting between African currencies and USD, EUR, or GBP.
The company’s merchant base includes global companies wanting to accept African payments (like Uber, Microsoft, and Booking.com) and African businesses that need to pay international suppliers. Flutterwave also operates Flutterwave Store, a simple e-commerce tool for small businesses, and Send, a remittance product.
Flutterwave raised $250 million in a Series D round in 2022, valuing the company at over $3 billion — making it one of the most valuable startups in Africa. It processes payments across 34 African countries and has handled billions in total transaction volume.
The company hasn’t been without challenges. A Kenyan court froze some of its accounts in 2022 during a money laundering investigation (Flutterwave denied wrongdoing, and funds were later released). Despite this, the company continues to grow. Flutterwave operates from San Francisco with major offices in Lagos and Nairobi.
