AFRICA – Africa-focused fintech firm Flutterwave has raised US$35 million in a series Series B round that was led by US VC firms Greycroft and eVentures, with participation of Visa, Green Visor and African fund CRE Venture Capital.

The company also announced partnerships with WorldPay and Visa as it targets expansion in north Africa.

Flutterwave’s latest funding brings the company’s total investment to $55 million and follows a year in which the fintech venture announced a series of weighty partnerships.

In July 2019, the startup joined forces with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba’s Alipay to offer digital payments between Africa and China.

The Alipay  collaboration followed one between Flutterwave and Visa to launch a consumer payment product for Africa, called GetBarter.

The start-up, founded in 2016 by Nigerians and headquartered in San Francisco, specialises in individual and consumer transfers — one of several fintech firms aiming to facilitate and capitalise on Africa’s booming payments market.

As part of the deal, Flutterwave will become the African payment provider for Worldpay’s clients worldwide, making the company the latest African fintech firm to attract global cash and big-name partnerships.

While the agreement is not exclusive, it is WorldPay’s only partner on the continent.

With the funding, Flutterwave will invest in technology and business development to grow market share in existing operating countries, CEO Olugbenga Agboola, alias GB told TechCrunch.

The company will also expand capabilities to offer more services around its payment products.

“We don’t just want to be a payment technology company, we have sector expertise around education, travel, gaming, e-commerce, fintech companies. They all use our expertise,” said GB.

The Nigerian-founded startup’s main business is providing B2B payments services for companies operating in Africa to pay other companies on the continent and abroad.

Launched in 2016, Flutterwave allows clients to tap its APIs and work with Flutterwave developers to customize payments applications.

Existing customers include Uber, Booking.com and e-commerce company Jumia.

In 2019, Flutterwave processed 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion, according to company data.

Flutterwave did also the payment integration for U.S. pop-star Cardi B’s 2019 performances in Nigeria and Ghana.

Apart from Ghana and Nigeria, the startup also operates, in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya,  Tanzania, Zambia, the U.K. and Rwanda.