Grace Ashiru
African payments company Flutterwave has completed an undisclosed Series E funding round that values the business at $3.2 billion, marking another major fundraising milestone for one of the continent’s best-known technology companies.
Blockchain and digital-finance company Ripple participated as a strategic investor in the round. The partnership is expected to support Flutterwave’s plans to expand stablecoin-enabled payments and improve cross-border settlements for African businesses and consumers.
Flutterwave was established in 2016 to make it easier for merchants, banks and other organisations to accept and process different forms of payment through a single technology connection. The company says its network has processed more than $40 billion in payments and supported over one billion transactions.
The new investment follows Flutterwave’s $250 million Series D round in 2022. It also comes after the company secured a Nigerian banking licence, giving it additional room to develop and distribute regulated financial services in its largest home market.
Under its relationship with Ripple, Flutterwave plans to integrate Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin into parts of its payment infrastructure. Transactions are also expected to use the XRP Ledger as one of the settlement networks supporting stablecoin flows.
Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, usually by being linked to a conventional currency such as the US dollar. Payment companies increasingly view them as a possible way to reduce the cost and delay associated with transferring money between countries.
For Flutterwave, the partnership could provide another settlement option for merchants operating across different African currencies and banking systems. Businesses involved in imports, exports and digital services frequently encounter high transfer charges, foreign-exchange shortages and delayed settlements.
The amount raised in the Series E round has not been publicly disclosed. Flutterwave has also not released a complete list of participating investors.
Nevertheless, Ripple’s involvement indicates that the fundraising is about more than increasing Flutterwave’s valuation. It represents a strategic push into blockchain-based settlement infrastructure as the company works to connect African commerce more directly with international markets.
The challenge will be expanding these services while meeting the different financial, data-protection and digital-asset regulations operating across African countries.
