Nigerian payment technology company, Flutterwave, has joined the likes of global giants Apple, Netflix, and Facebook on Time magazine’s newly released list of 100 Most Influential Companies across the world.
The year 2021 appears to be a great one for the fintech company as Time listed the company as a pioneer on the list released on its official website on Tuesday.
WuzupNigeria reported that the company announced a valuation of over $1 billion (N381,250,000) after closing a $170m Series C funding round in March 2021, becoming the largest amount ever secured by any African outfit.
The startup founded by Olugbenga Agboola raised a total of $10m in Series A funding in August 2017 and the Series C round comes a year after Flutterwave closed its $35 million Series B and $20 million Series A in 2018.
The company also announced a partnership deal with United States payments giant, Paypal last month “to allow businesses in Africa to receive payments from over 377 million @PayPal users all over the world,” the company said.
A statement by Time noted Flutterwave’s swift action under the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdowns across Africa in 2020, noting that its digital storefront for over 20,000 store owners, helped business owners could continue to serve the needs of the populace as shops were shut from their customers.
Time wrote: “The co-founder and CEO of Nigeria’s Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, compares the infrastructure of digital transactions across nations and platforms (think credit cards, debit payments and digital wallets) to plumbing: you don’t want to think about it, you just want it to work. When pandemic lockdowns hit brick-and-mortar businesses in Africa, the digital-payment service was able to rapidly set up digital storefronts for 20,000 customers, throwing them a lifeline. Agboola called the free campaign “keeping the lights on.” Flutterwave hit tech-unicorn status in March when it secured $170 million in Series C funding from global investors, valuing the company at more than $1 billion.”
Flutterwave is the only African company on the Time 100 list which also includes global companies like, Nike, Pfizer and Biontech, Mastercard, Zoom, Microsoft, Twitter, Spotify, Johnson & Johnson, Adidas, TikTok, Duolingo, Samsung, Tesla Inc., Paypal, etc.
