African fintech giant Flutterwave hits $3.3 billion valuation as Ripple buys stake

Flutterwave Inc., Africa’s largest payments infrastructure company, has reached a fresh valuation of $3.3 billion after a new investment from Ripple, the blockchain company linked to the XRP Ledger. The deal places Flutterwave at the center of a growing push to expand the use of stablecoins in cross-border payments.

The investment is part of Flutterwave’s Series E funding round. According to Bloomberg, founder and Chief Executive Olugbenga Agboola declined to disclose the size of Ripple’s stake. The latest valuation reflects continued backing from institutional investors and sustained interest in the company’s long-term business model.

The transaction also deepens Flutterwave’s focus on digital assets in cross-border settlement. The company said the partnership will link its existing payments network with stablecoin-based liquidity tools, aiming to make international transfers faster and more predictable for businesses operating across Africa.

Connecting African commerce to global markets

Agboola said the deal strengthens Flutterwave’s ability to expand its payments infrastructure and scale its stablecoin strategy. He said the company is working to reduce settlement delays and lower transaction costs for African businesses trading across borders. “This investment marks a key step in building a payments network that connects African commerce more directly to the global economy,” he said.

Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Reece Merrick, said Flutterwave has built one of the region’s most widely used payments systems. He added that stablecoins are becoming more important in how cross-border value moves through digital infrastructure. Ripple said the collaboration will support the use of RLUSD within Flutterwave’s system and extend settlement activity on the XRP Ledger.

Under the agreement, RLUSD will be integrated into Flutterwave’s payment rails and remittance product, Send App, as a settlement option for high-volume transactions. The companies also plan to use the XRP Ledger to speed up transaction processing and introduce a shared application programming interface to connect Flutterwave’s network with Ripple’s payments system.

Flutterwave said the arrangement is intended to link local payment methods, including bank transfers, cards, and mobile money, with blockchain-based settlement tools. The goal, both companies said, is to reduce delays that can stretch over several days in some cross-border transactions and to give businesses more predictable pricing at the point of payment.

Valuation hits $3.3 billion on regional growth

The company’s valuation has climbed from $1 billion in 2022 to $3.3 billion today, supported by expansion across African markets and rising transaction volumes. Flutterwave has raised more than $500 million in funding and processed over a billion transactions valued at more than $50 billion.

In recent years, the company has expanded into East Africa, secured regulatory approvals in Ghana and Uganda, and strengthened compliance ties with Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It also obtained a Nigerian microlending licence following its acquisition of open banking startup Mono earlier this year, allowing it to offer credit services and hold customer deposits in its largest market.

Earlier this month, Flutterwave announced a collaboration with blockchain network Tempo to develop stablecoin-based payment infrastructure across Africa, linking its Send App and business payment tools to support transactions across Africa, Europe, and North America. Once fully deployed, the system is expected to support wallet-to-wallet transfers using USDC and USDT, with faster settlement times and more consistent costs across selected trade routes.