Flutterwave
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Flutterwave does
Flutterwave is a private fintech founded in 2016 by Olugbenga Agboola and incorporated in California as Flutterwave Incorporated, operating as a pan-African payment infrastructure provider headquartered in San Francisco with primary operational hubs in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, Cairo, London, and eight additional African offices. The company builds and operates a cloud-native payments platform — running on Microsoft Azure — that supports 30+ currencies and 15+ payment methods (cards, bank transfer, mobile money including M-Pesa, POS, USSD, VISA QR) across 35+ markets, processing 500K+ payments daily and 20M+ API calls per day at peak throughput of 231 requests/second. Its product surface spans core payment acceptance (Collect Payments, Checkout, POS), cross-border payouts (Send Money to 40+ countries), consumer remittances (Send App), FX (Swap, via Kadavra BDC and Wema Bank), embedded finance (FaaS), card issuing, business lending (Capital), education payments (Tuition), a creator platform (Disha), and most recently a Nigerian microfinance banking franchise (Flutterwave MFB) following an April 2026 CBN license; it has also built a multi-chain stablecoin settlement infrastructure integrating Polygon, Tempo, Ripple/RLUSD/XRPL, and Circle/USDC.
The company earns revenue primarily through transaction-based processing fees on payments and cross-border transfers, supplemented by interest income from Capital lending (issued via partner banks), POS hardware sales, marketplace commissions from Flutterwave Market, currency conversion margins on Swap, flat fees for Tuition (75 GBP / 100 CAD), and — prospectively — banking fees and float from Flutterwave MFB. Go-to-market spans enterprise field sales (Uber, Microsoft, MTN, Wise, Chipper Cash), self-serve product-led growth for SMEs and developers (Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, BigCommerce, BigCommerce plugins, payment links, mobile SDKs), API-first infrastructure for fintech builders, and direct-to-consumer remittance via the Send App. Cumulative funding exceeds $500M across Seed through Series E (Series D: $250M at $3B in Feb 2022; Series E: $3.2B valuation in June 2026 with Ripple as strategic investor), with over $50B processed across 1B+ transactions since inception. Material strategic priorities in 2025–2026 include executing on the banking license, scaling stablecoin settlement rails to compress cross-border remittance costs toward the UN's sub-3% target, and integrating open banking capabilities via the Mono acquisition.
Flutterwave firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Flutterwave
- Legal name
- Flutterwave Incorporated
- Website
- https://flutterwave.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Flutterwave industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs) (FSAMAIAJ), In-App / Online Checkout Wallets (FSAMAEAH), Payables & Disbursements (ACH/SEPA, wires, checks, virtual cards) (FSABAIAB)
Keywords
Where Flutterwave is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices12 records
Markets served
Flutterwave business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Payment Processing Fees: Transaction-based fees charged on payments processed through the platform. Flutterwave charges transparent processing fees per transaction, with the most affordable payment processing fees in the market according to company claims. Supports 15+ payment options including cards, mobile money, bank transfers, and POS.
- Invoice Processing: Fees associated with invoice creation, sending, and payment processing through the Flutterwave invoicing platform.
- Business Capital/Lending: Interest income from business loans through Flutterwave Capital. The platform offers flexible working capital loans to businesses based on their payment volume and transaction history, with daily repayment from sales settlements. Loans are issued by partner banks.
- Currency Exchange (Swap): Revenue from foreign currency exchange services through Swap, powered by partnerships with Kadavra BDC and Wema Bank. Users can swap Naira for USD, EUR, or GBP at competitive rates with nominal fees clearly communicated during transactions.
- E-commerce Marketplace (Market): Commission from Flutterwave Market, the company's ecommerce marketplace where millions of people shop daily. Sellers listed on the marketplace gain access to Flutterwave's customer base.
- Tuition Payment Processing: Flat fees charged for tuition payments: 75 GBP for UK schools and 100 CAD for Canadian schools, plus potential BDC and Swift fees for currency conversion.
- POS Hardware and Services: Revenue from point-of-sale devices including hardware provision and associated transaction processing fees for physical retail operations.
- Banking Services: Following securing a Nigerian microfinance banking license in 2026, Flutterwave will offer consumer accounts, business accounts, payroll management, and treasury services, generating revenue from banking fees and float.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Transaction-based processing fees for online and in-person payments |
| Outcome Based/ Performance | Pay-as-you-go | Business loans through Flutterwave Capital |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Foreign currency exchange through Swap |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free online store creation |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Education tuition payments |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels9 records
Flutterwave product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Flutterwave provides payment infrastructure that enables businesses to accept payments globally in 30+ currencies through 15+ payment methods (cards, mobile money, USSD, bank transfer, POS, M-Pesa, VISA QR), make cross-border payouts to 40+ countries, and embed financial services via APIs. Offerings span enterprise field-sales solutions, self-serve SaaS tools for SMEs (Checkout, Payment Links, Invoices, Store, POS, Swap, Capital, Card Issuing), a developer-first FaaS banking-as-a-service platform, and consumer apps for remittance, FX, marketplace shopping, tuition payment and ticket purchase.
Product overview
Flutterwave is an Africa-focused payments infrastructure company offering a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core platform provides payment acceptance (Collect Payments, Checkout, POS), cross-border transfers (Send Money), and API access for developers. The product suite extends through add-on modules including Swap (FX), Payment Links, Store (ecommerce builder), Invoices, Capital (lending), Card Issuing, and FaaS (embedded finance). Consumer-facing sub-brands include Send App (remittance), Tuition (education payments), Afritickets, and Flutterwave Market. Acquired brands include Disha (creator platform) and Mono (open banking). The April 2026 banking license enabled Flutterwave MFB, adding consumer accounts, business accounts, payroll, treasury, and lending services. Integration partnerships cover major ecommerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce), blockchain networks (Ripple/RLUSD, Circle/USDC, Polygon, Tempo), Token.io (Pay By Bank), and Fireblocks (stablecoin acceptance).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Send App: Cross-border remittance and payments platform enabling individuals to send money to Africa from the US, UK, EU, and Canada
- Disha
- Afritickets
- Flutterwave Store
- Flutterwave Capital
- Swap
Products and services
- Collect Payments Core payment acceptance product enabling businesses to receive online payments globally in 30+ currencies via multiple payment methods including cards, bank accounts, mobile money, POS, M-Pesa, VISA QR, USSD and bank transfer.
- Send Money (Payouts and Transfers) Cross-border payout and transfer solution allowing businesses to send single, bulk or recurring transfers to bank accounts in 40+ countries with 30+ currency support.
- Checkout Smart hosted online checkout page with optimized payment ordering, speed and user experience for global payment acceptance.
- POS Systems Point of sale devices supporting multiple payment methods for physical retail businesses with end-to-end encryption, PCI DSS compliance and a management dashboard.
- Swap Foreign currency exchange platform enabling Nigerians to swap Naira for USD, EUR and GBP at competitive rates via partnerships with Kadavra BDC and Wema Bank.
- Payment Links No-code solution enabling merchants to create unique payment links for one-off or recurring payments without a website or technical integration.
- Store Free ecommerce website builder enabling businesses to create online stores and start selling globally with integrated Flutterwave payment acceptance.
- Invoices Professional invoice creation and management tool supporting multi-currency payments, sales and tax calculations and automated reminders.
- Capital (Business Lending) Business lending solution offering quick access to flexible working-capital loans without collateral, with credit decisions based on Flutterwave transaction history and daily repayment from sales settlements.
- Card Issuing Virtual and physical card issuance solution enabling businesses to issue cards to customers for global spending, integrated with Flutterwave accounts.
- FaaS (Finance as a Service) Embedded finance platform that allows businesses and developers to build financial products on Flutterwave's infrastructure via APIs, including virtual account issuance, KYC and instant onboarding.
- Send App Consumer-focused remittance app enabling individuals in the US, UK, EU and Canada to send money to recipients across Africa with fast secure transfers.
- Flutterwave Market Ecommerce marketplace that connects shoppers with third-party African online businesses, enabling discovery and delivery of products.
- Tuition Education payment platform enabling African students to pay tuition fees to African and international schools in local currency with transparent flat fees.
- Afritickets Lifestyle, business, event and travel management ticketing platform enabling consumers to discover and pay for events.
- Disha Digital creator platform enabling creators to build free single-page websites and sell products globally without coding.
- Flutterwave MFB (Microfinance Bank) Microfinance banking solution offering Nigerian consumers and businesses consumer accounts, business accounts, payroll management, treasury services and merchant lending.
Quantifiable outcome
- Settlement delays reduced from multi-day to near-instant through stablecoin rails
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Flutterwave
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Flutterwave technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
Feature18 records
Flutterwave partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.
- PolygoncorePolygon is part of Flutterwave's multi-chain stablecoin settlement infrastructure, alongside Tempo, Ripple/XRPL, and Circle. Polygon-based stablecoin payment flows are integrated for cross-border settlement options.
- TempocoreFlutterwave partnered with Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain network, to integrate Tempo's layer-1 blockchain as a complementary settlement rail within Send App and Flutterwave for Business platforms. The integration supports USDC and USDT wallet-to-wallet transactions for faster cross-border settlement, addressing remittance costs averaging 7% to Sub-Saharan Africa.
- FireblocksstrategicFlutterwave is a launch partner for Fireblocks Flow, a stablecoin acceptance infrastructure enabling payment service providers and fintechs to offer merchants stablecoin payment acceptance with built-in compliance, sanctions screening, and reconciliation.
- Nairobi City ThunderminorFlutterwave's Send App became the main sponsor of Nairobi City Thunder, a two-time unbeaten Kenya National Basketball League champion. The two-season sponsorship includes front-of-shirt branding, matchday experiences, and digital platform engagement.
- Activate Success International FoundationminorFlutterwave partnered with Activate Success International Foundation to advance youth entrepreneurship and digital financial inclusion in Nigeria through the 2026 Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Programme (YEEP). Flutterwave deployed over N50 million in grants in 2025 and reached over 30,000 young people.
- Token.iostrategicFlutterwave partnered with Token.io, Europe's account-to-account payment infrastructure provider, to enable Pay By Bank transfer capabilities for Flutterwave's platform users in the UK and EU. The partnership gives Flutterwave access to Token.io's network covering over 567 million bank accounts across 16 European countries.
- MicrosoftcoreFlutterwave announced a five-year technology agreement with Microsoft to build its next-generation payments platform on Microsoft Azure. The collaboration includes Azure OpenAI Service integration to scale Flutterwave's product offerings, supporting high-volume payment processing for global clients.
- RD TechnologiesstrategicFlutterwave partnered with RD Technologies, a Hong Kong-based fintech group, to power Asia-Africa cross-border payments. RD Technologies integrated Flutterwave's local collection infrastructure into its OristaPay platform for local African currency collections, fast payouts, and seamless settlements.
- YunostrategicFlutterwave partnered with Yuno, a global payment orchestration platform, enabling Yuno's customers worldwide to activate Flutterwave as their African payment provider through a single integration. The partnership simplifies African market expansion for global merchants.
- MonocoreFlutterwave acquired Mono, an open banking infrastructure company and Nigerian fintech startup. The acquisition strengthened Flutterwave's capabilities across identity, account connectivity, onboarding, verification, and financial data infrastructure. Mono's microfinance banking license acquisition enabled Flutterwave's Nigerian banking license.
- Kadavra BDCstrategicFlutterwave partnered with Kadavra BDC (Bureau de Change) alongside Wema Bank to power its Swap currency exchange platform, enabling users to swap Naira for USD, EUR, and GBP at competitive rates.
- Wema BankstrategicFlutterwave partnered with Wema Bank alongside Kadavra BDC to power its Swap currency exchange platform for Nigerian users.
- DishaminorFlutterwave acquired Disha, a Nigerian digital creator platform, to expand services for freelancers and creators. The acquisition facilitates cross-border payments for Disha users and supports growth in the digital arts and NFT markets.
Scale indicators18 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Flutterwave competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Paystack: Paystack is a Lagos-based payment processor serving Nigerian and broader African merchants with online checkout, subscriptions, and transfers. Acquired by Stripe in 2020, it is Flutterwave's most direct head-to-head competitor across SMEs in Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa.
- Interswitch: Interswitch is a Lagos-headquartered African digital payments and commerce company operating Verve cards, Quickteller, and payment-switching infrastructure across multiple African countries. It competes with Flutterwave in enterprise payment processing and merchant acquiring at the largest end of the African market.
- Cellulant: Cellulant is a pan-African digital payments platform providing payment aggregation and collections across 35+ countries via the Tingg platform. It directly competes with Flutterwave in cross-border payment enablement for enterprises and banks across African markets.
- Chipper Cash: Chipper Cash is an African cross-border payments company offering consumer remittances and business payments across multiple African corridors. It overlaps with Flutterwave's Send App and Send Money products in the diaspora remittance use case.
- Remitly: Remitly is a US-listed digital remittance company focused on cross-border money transfers from North America and Europe to emerging markets including Africa. Send App and Remitly compete head-to-head for corridor volume from the US/UK/EU to African destinations.
- Wise (TransferWise): Wise is a London-listed cross-border payments company offering multi-currency accounts and low-cost international transfers. Wise is both a Flutterwave customer (per disclosures) and a peer in the cross-border business payment and remittance category.
- Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa): Onafriq is a pan-African digital payments hub connecting mobile wallets, banks, and merchants across 35+ African countries. It competes directly with Flutterwave in mobile money interoperability and cross-border payment orchestration across African markets.
Broad incumbents
- Stripe: Stripe is a global payment infrastructure platform offering checkout, payouts, issuing, and embedded finance APIs. Following its Paystack acquisition, Stripe is Flutterwave's most consequential competitor globally and particularly across African markets where Flutterwave's positioning overlaps with Stripe's Africa expansion.
- PayPal: PayPal is a global digital payments incumbent offering consumer wallets, merchant processing, and cross-border transfers (Xoom). It is a broad incumbent comparable to Flutterwave at the global consumer and SMB acceptance layer, including in African corridors via Xoom.
- Visa Direct: Visa Direct is Visa's real-time push payments platform enabling cross-border P2P, P2B, and B2B transfers across card and account rails globally. It is a broad incumbent comparable in cross-border payouts, with Visa also being a strategic investor in Flutterwave historically.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Flutterwave social profiles
Digital presenceFlutterwave compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
Flutterwave financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Flutterwave leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles21 records
Flutterwave subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Flutterwave funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds13 records
Investors59 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Flutterwave M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A3 records
Investments2 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Flutterwave
What does Flutterwave do?
Flutterwave provides payment infrastructure that enables businesses to accept payments globally in 30+ currencies through 15+ payment methods (cards, mobile money, USSD, bank transfer, POS, M-Pesa, VISA QR), make cross-border payouts to 40+ countries, and embed financial services via APIs. Offerings span enterprise field-sales solutions, self-serve SaaS tools for SMEs (Checkout, Payment Links, Invoices, Store, POS, Swap, Capital, Card Issuing), a developer-first FaaS banking-as-a-service platform, and consumer apps for remittance, FX, marketplace shopping, tuition payment and ticket purchase.
Is Flutterwave a public or private company?
Flutterwave is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Flutterwave founded?
Flutterwave was founded in 2016. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Flutterwave based?
Flutterwave is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Flutterwave make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. Payment Processing Fees are the primary driver. The others are invoice Processing, business Capital/Lending, currency Exchange (Swap), E-commerce Marketplace (Market), tuition Payment Processing, POS Hardware and Services and banking Services.
Who are Flutterwave's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Paystack, Interswitch, Cellulant, Chipper Cash, Remitly, Wise (TransferWise) and Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa). Broad incumbents are Stripe, PayPal and Visa Direct.
Does Flutterwave have an API?
Yes. Flutterwave offers a public REST API enabling developers to integrate payment functionalities into applications. The API supports quick transfers, one-time and recurring payments, payment verification, instant virtual card creation, and customer verification. The platform provides SDKs and libraries for mobile apps on iOS and Android, with sandbox/test environments and live production environments available. API documentation is accessible at developer.flutterwave.com with full API reference and status monitoring. Developer documentation is at developer.flutterwave.com.
What industry is Flutterwave in?
Flutterwave's product category is Payment Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGALAB, Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets), with a secondary code of FSAMAIAJ, Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs). Its NAICS code is 52232 and its SIC code is 6200.