Flutterwave
Flutterwave enables merchants to accept pan-African payments via single integration.
Flutterwave is a pan-African payment infrastructure platform that enables merchants and payment service providers to accept payments across multiple African countries through a single integration. The platform processes 500,000+ payments daily across 15+ payment methods including cards, mobile money, bank transfers, and digital wallets. It serves over 900,000 businesses globally and solves the critical problem of payment system interoperability across Africa, where local solutions rarely work across borders. Beyond core payments, Flutterwave offers remittances (Send App), card issuing, and business incorporation services (Grow).
Problem solved
Payment infrastructure in Africa lacks interoperability, forcing merchants and PSPs to integrate with multiple disconnected systems to accept payments across different countries.
Target customer
Global merchants expanding into Africa, payment service providers, fintech companies, and enterprises needing multi-country payment processing across the African continent.
Founders
O
Olugbenga Agboola
CEO & Co-Founder
Nigerian software engineer with degree in Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University and MBA from Oxford's Said Business School; previously worked as application engineer at PayPal and in product management at Google.
I
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji
Co-Founder
Served as initial CEO of Flutterwave before stepping down in 2018.
A
Adeleke Adekoya
Co-Founder
Banking background with prominent roles at several financial institutions before co-founding Flutterwave.
Funding history
Series C
$170M
2021
Led by Unknown
· Tiger Global, Avenir Growth Capital, Green Visor Capital
Series D
$250M
February 16, 2022
Led by B Capital Group
· Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, Lux Capital, Glynn Capital, Avenir Growth, Tiger Global, Green Visor Capital
Total raised:
$489M
Industries
Pricing
Not publicly available. Transaction fee structures are not disclosed. Flutterwave Capital is available to businesses in Nigeria based on payment volume and transaction history.
Notable customers
Uber, Booking.com, Flywire, PayPal, Chipper Cash, Risevest, MTN, Airtel Africa
Integrations
PayPal, MTN, Airtel Africa, Visa, Mastercard, Access Bank
Website
Competitors
Paystack
Primarily focused on West African payment processing; less extensive pan-African coverage than Flutterwave.
AZA Finance
Specializes in cross-border payments and treasury solutions; narrower product scope than Flutterwave's full-stack offering.
Thunes
Focused on international remittances and cross-border payments; less integrated with local African payment methods.
PayPal
Global payments giant with broader reach but less specialized for African payment infrastructure and local payment methods.
Why this matters: Flutterwave is the highest-funded African fintech startup ($489M raised, $3B valuation as of Feb 2022) and directly solves a critical infrastructure gap: the fragmentation of African payment systems. Its success enabling companies like Uber to operate across Africa demonstrates how essential payment infrastructure unlocks entire continents for global commerce.
Best for: Global merchants and payment service providers needing to accept payments across multiple African countries through a single, unified integration.
Use cases
Cross-Border E-commerce Expansion
An international e-commerce platform like Booking.com uses Flutterwave to accept payments from customers across 5+ African countries without integrating with each country's payment systems separately. Flutterwave's multi-method support (cards, mobile money, bank transfers) ensures customers can pay with their preferred local method, dramatically increasing conversion rates.
Ride-Hailing in Africa
Uber faced credit card payment failures in Lagos. Flutterwave partnered with Access Bank to provide a localized payments solution, enabling Uber to process payments reliably in Africa. This demonstrates how Flutterwave solves infrastructure gaps that prevent global apps from operating effectively on the continent.
Pan-African Remittances
Chipper Cash leverages Flutterwave's infrastructure to enable money transfers across African countries. Through Flutterwave, Chipper Cash processed 600,000+ transactions totaling $50M across 5 countries, showing how the platform enables fintech services that wouldn't be viable with fragmented local integrations.
Business Registration as a Service
Flutterwave's Grow product helps companies register and incorporate businesses in the US, UK, and Nigeria, bundling payment processing with back-office services for entrepreneurs launching ventures across multiple jurisdictions.
Alternatives
Paystack
Better for businesses focused primarily on West African markets; less comprehensive pan-African coverage.
Stripe
Global payments platform with limited native support for African payment methods and local integrations.
AZA Finance
Specialized for cross-border B2B payments and treasury; narrower product suite than Flutterwave.
FAQ
What does Flutterwave do? +
Flutterwave is a payment infrastructure platform that enables merchants and payment service providers to accept payments across African countries through a single integration. It supports 15+ payment methods including cards, mobile money, bank transfers, and digital wallets, processing 500,000+ payments daily. Beyond core payments, it offers remittances (Send App), card issuing, and business incorporation services.
How much does Flutterwave cost? +
Flutterwave does not publicly disclose its pricing or transaction fee structure. Interested businesses should contact them directly for custom pricing based on their payment volume and use case.
What are alternatives to Flutterwave? +
Top alternatives include Paystack (strong in West Africa), AZA Finance (cross-border B2B focus), Thunes (international remittances), and Stripe (global reach but limited African payment method support). Choice depends on geographic focus and specific payment methods needed.
Who uses Flutterwave? +
Flutterwave serves 900,000+ businesses globally, including major companies like Uber, Booking.com, Flywire, and Chipper Cash. Target customers are global merchants expanding into Africa, payment service providers, and fintech companies needing multi-country African payment processing.
How does Flutterwave compare to Paystack? +
Both are African payment platforms, but Flutterwave offers broader pan-African coverage across more countries and payment methods, while Paystack is stronger in West Africa. Flutterwave also offers additional services like remittances and business incorporation through its Grow product, whereas Paystack focuses primarily on core payments.
What makes Flutterwave different? +
Flutterwave uniquely solves payment interoperability across Africa—most payment solutions work in single countries, but Flutterwave connects merchants to 15+ payment methods across multiple African nations through one API. It's also achieved unicorn status ($1B+ valuation in 2021) with $489M in total funding, positioning it as the largest-funded African fintech platform.
Tags
payments
pan-African
payment infrastructure
remittances
mobile money
card issuing
business incorporation
cross-border payments
merchant platform