Flutterwave, the cross-border payments startup from Nigeria, is reportedly seeking new funds at a valuation of $3 billion which is almost 3 times its valuation from its previous funding round and is expected to achieve this considering how hot the payments market has become over the last couple of years.
It had raised $20 million in Series A, $35 million in Series B, and $170 million in its Series C and has been using these funds to continue to push on its growth and expansion all across Africa and has also shifted its base to Silicon Valley to give it more access to technology, funds, and network as well. It has also been able to launch several partnerships with major companies like Paypal, Facebook, and booking.com which has been a win-win situation for all the partners involved as these companies also get a chance to enter into the African markets in a big way, build their branding there and increase their transaction volumes.
Flutterwave had reportedly processed 140 million transactions during the first quarter of the year as the payments industry grew furiously on the back of the pandemic which forced many users to stay indoors and use digital payments for all kinds of payments. The company also reported that between 2018 and 2020, its revenue grew at an annual growth rate of over 200% which has been enough to make it a prime target of investors. The collaboration with Paypal has enabled African merchants to use the Flutterwave platform to make and accept payments which have, in turn, made cross-border payments very easy and that is the reason why the company has been able to grow across 33 countries in Africa.
The African financial services market is likely to see a boom shortly as the markets in Asia dn Europe are being to saturate steadily. The companies would be looking to expand into Africa or tie up with startups over there which should help to grow the economy in the region in the long run. The development of the region and growth of the market should go hand in hand as it would then be beneficial for all involved. Whether that would happen or not is something that we have to wait and see as the world finally wakes up to the potential of the African market.
