Flutterwave

Flutterwave is a fintech company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent.[1]

History

Flutterwave was founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California with current operations in the U.S., Canada, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, and 29 other African countries.[2][3]

In 2021, Flutterwave raised a US$170 million Series C funding round.[4] At the time, this was the largest amount ever secured by an African tech startup and gave it a valuation of over US$1 billion,[5]

Controversy

Kenya licensing and Money Laundering Allegations

In July 2022, a Kenyan High Court froze accounts held by Flutterwave containing over 6.2 billion Kenyan shilling, following allegations by Kenya's Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) that the funds were linked to money laundering and credit card fraud. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) also disclosed that Flutterwave was not licensed to operate in the country.[31][32][33] Flutterwave denied accusations of financial misconduct.[33]

In February 2023, the ARA withdrew its case against Flutterwave, and a Kenyan court released $51.9 million that had been frozen. The court documents revealed that the agency absolved Flutterwave of any wrongdoing, effectively clearing the company of all allegations.[34][35][36]

In response to the licensing issue, Flutterwave disclosed that it submitted applications for licensing to the CBK as early as 2019, but these were still pending approval.[37][38][39] Recent developments indicate that the CBK is revising its regulatory framework, which could soon allow Flutterwave and other fintech companies to obtain the necessary licenses to operate in Kenya.[40]

Harassment

Flutterwave has been subject to multiple lawsuits and allegations for denying former employees stock rights as well as having a culture of bullying and harassment.[33] In response, the company stated it has taken action against individuals within the company responsible for harassment.[33]

Fraud

On March 3, 2023, a Twitter user tweeted about a hack at Flutterwave. Two days later, on March 5, Flutterwave denied the report of a hack,[41] stating that customers did not lose any funds. However, several sources told TechCabal that they lost funds and their accounts were frozen. The court documents seen by TechCabal included a petition by Flutterwave's legal counsel to the police, dated February 20, 2023.[42] On February 8, 2024, TechCabal further published an exclusive report into how Flutterwave has been defrauded up to the tune of $24m through a court order secured to obtain return of such funds from over 6,000 Nigerian bank customers.[43]

type	Private
industry	Financial technology
founded	2016
founders	Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola
headquarters	San Francisco, California, U.S. Lagos, Nigeria
area served	Africa, Europe, North America
key people	Olugbenga Agboola
products	Payment gateway, APIs, Mobile money, Merchant services
services	Online payments, Remittances, Checkout, POS, Virtual cards
num employees	350+
website	https://www.flutterwave.com

History

Awards and recognitions

Digital store

Switching license

Controversy

Kenya licensing and Money Laundering Allegations

Harassment

Fraud

See also

External links

References