Flutterwave, a Nigerian payments firm, is seeking fresh funding at a valuation of $3 billion or more, a figure that would roughly triple its last valuation, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The startup, which has offices in Lagos, Nigeria and San Francisco, recently held discussions with potential investors, the people said. Terms of the funding round haven’t been finalised, and it’s possible they may change.
A Flutterwave spokeswoman declined to comment.
Led by Chief Executive Officer Olugbenga Agboola, the company in March said it had achieved unicorn status after raising $170 million in a round led by Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management LLC.
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Other participating investors in that deal included DST Global, Greycroft, Insight Partners and Salesforce Ventures, the company said at the time.
Also in March, Flutterwave said it will collaborate with PayPal Holdings Inc.to enable the U.S. giant’s global customers to pay African merchants using Flutterwave’s platform.
The startup enables the creation of virtual Mastercard and Visa cards, among other payments services, according to its website.
Flutterwave has said it facilitates cross-border transactions across Africa for companies including Facebook Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Booking.com.
As of March, the startup said it had processed more than 140 million transactions worth over $9 billion in aggregate and that its revenue had risen at a compound annual growth rate of 225% between 2018 and 2020.
In May Flutterwave Inc. agreed a partnership with an Ethiopian company to facilitate mobile payments into the Horn of Africa country, part of plans to grow the customer base and add products.
The agreement allows more than eight million Ethiopian diaspora to send money home through local tech firm Amole, Flutterwave said in a statement on Thursday.
The deal comes as Ethiopia looks to open up its telecom industry to international operators, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledging to allow new entrants to offer mobile money in about a year’s time. Ethio Telecom, the state-owned monopoly, launched its own service earlier.
