Flutterwave to further IPO plans

With this IPO, the USD 3 billion payment startup seeks to access more and bigger international partners, as per its chief executive officer.

Flutterwave’s accusations and its IPO plans

In a Bloomberg article, Olugbenga Agboola, who is a co-founder of the pan-African payments company, was cited to have brushed accusations that it had refused to honour former employees’ stock rights and that the staff experienced harassment, naming these as ‘very isolated’ cases that would not affect the planned share sale.

Per the spokesperson, the company has been approved for the initial step in securing operating rights in Kenya, and they believe that once public, the company is set to attract a certain type of customers, namely large global clients that require the same compliance and global view level that they have. However, market uncertainty is thought to slow any listing, with the company having previously been reported as planning to sell shares in New York and possibly Nigeria.

From its 2016-founding onwards, Flutterwave has been rapidly expanding, currently having a presence in approximately 30 African countries, and Agboola has led funding rounds, with the February 2022 one tripling the company’s valuation to USD 3 billion. A Lagos- and San Francisco-based company, Flutterwave attracted investments from venture capital firms such as Tiger Global Management LLC, and collaborates with companies including Alibaba’s Alipay, Uber Technologies, and Netflix. 

As per an analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index using Pitchbook data, Agboola’s stake in the company was worth over USD 370 million as of Flutterwave’s funding round last year. However, as funding for startups has slowed worldwide, the fast-growing company of 750 employees will have to work at scaling up governance ahead of an IPO. Additionally, the volatility of the Nigerian naira is also believed to bring forth complexities to the matter.

In 2022, the company’s plans were disturbed by harassment allegations, and were also affected in July when the Kenyan High Court froze its bank accounts under anti-money laundering rules and the central bank said it wasn’t licenced to operate payment services in the region. In February 2023, the company was reported to have been cleared of these allegations, and Bloomberg details that it was permitted to apply to register its name with the registrar of companies and further its application for a money remittance licence from the Central Bank of Kenya, which is expected to be issued soon. Flutterwave has also responded to queries stating that a court case to reopen the bank accounts had been adjourned several times, with the matters remaining unresolved.

While refusing to disclose an annual increase in total revenue, Flutterwave stated that its payment processing business through its payment app SendApp has increased 23-fold in H1 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Additionally, payments via POS devices increased more than fivefold and SMB unit revenue rose approximately fourfold. The company official believes the company will grow its presence in the markets it is currently operating in and is possibly seeking out acquisitions to have its reach furthered. Per their statement, their goal is to have merchants and consumers across Africa use them more and to consider them as one of the most reliable platforms.