San Francisco and Lagos-based Flutterwave has raised $35 million in Series B funding that CEO Olugbenga "GB" Agboola said will go directly towards expanding the fintech firm's presence in Africa.
"For the new capital, the goal is to pretty much double down on our expansion in Africa," Agboola told Cheddar.
The payment technology firm, which helps merchants and consumers process transactions online and at the point-of-sale, is banking on Africa's youth demographic to drive growth.
"If you look at Nigeria, for example, population is 200 million-plus people, average age is between 20 to 30 — that has been the driving force of our expansion strategy," Agboola said.
The company, which counts Uber and Booking.com among its clients, currently operates in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, and has plans to expand to Zambia, Malawi, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Morocco, and Egypt.
"Africa is a massive consumer of everything from the West," Agboola said.
He added that many young Africans subscribe to Netflix or Spotify and buy products like Apple AirPods. His goal is to better connect these consumers to the global market, and, on the flip side, make it easier for local merchants to sell their wares to anyone in the world.
Rather than entering one market at a time, Flutterwave is trying to quickly expand its footprint across the continent and become the payment option of choice for millions of young Africans.
"One big differentiator that we have is we see Africa as one market," Agboola said.
Partnerships with Visa and Worldpay have already helped Flutterwave expand its customer base globally. Now it plans to use the latest round of funding to hire additional business development staff and technology developers to lead the expansion into more countries.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.
Seth Schachner breaks down Zootopia 2’s record-smashing debut, holiday box office trends, early 2026 Oscar contenders, and what’s next for Netflix and WBD.
