I maintain an excel sheet which I use to track many things. In one sheet, I track India and Africa, and specifically the startup ecosystems. India and Africa have about the same population and GDP! What that tells me is this: if Indian startups are becoming double and triple unicorns (a unicorn has a valuation of at least US$1 billion), anyone that can unite African economies can generate the same. More so, when I see a business model, I try to see how that performed in India, to ascertain its viability. Many things are common if you look deeper.
Yes, if India’s largest fintech, Paytm, is worth close to $30 billion, Africa’s largest fintech companies should be worth at least $10 billion, discounting the inefficiency from the disparate African economies.
So on that basis, the news that Flutterwave is hitting $3 billion makes sense. As I have said many times, this is a cambrian moment, and if that happens, Flutterwave will become the largest financial institution in Africa, overtaking OPay which was last valued at $2 billion. The banks have since made ways for the future.
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Flutterwave Inc., 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 finalized, and it’s possible they may change.
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. Other participating investors in that deal included DST Global, Greycroft, Insight Partners and Salesforce Ventures, the company said at the time.
By 2025, these startups will do to the “new generation banks” what they did to the old banks in Nigeria: displacement. At Tekedia Capital, we are very excited on what we see – the future is full of abundance.
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