OFFICIAL CORRECTION-African fintech firm Flutterwave eyes U.S. listing after raising $170 mln

(Flutterwave representative withdraws reference in paragraph 10
to PayPal being part of the funding round)
By Alexis Akwagyiram and Chijioke Ohuocha
LAGOS, March 10 (Reuters) - Africa-focused payments company
Flutterwave could consider a New York listing, its chief
executive said after it raised $170 million from investors to
expand its customer base, pushing its valuation up to more than
$1 billion.
Founded in 2016 by Nigerians and headquartered in San
Francisco, the company specialises in individual and consumer
transfers.
It is one of several fintech groups aiming to facilitate and
capitalise on a booming African payments market driven by
increased mobile phone use and faster internet speeds.
"We may consider the possibility of listing in New York or a
possible dual listing in New York and Nigeria," Flutterwave's
CEO and co-founder Olugbenga Agboola told Reuters in a telephone
interview late on Tuesday.
Flutterwave on Wednesday said it had "secured $170 million
from a leading group of international investors" to expand its
customer base in existing and international markets and to
develop new products.
"The company's valuation is now in excess of $1 billion. The
fundraise brings the total investment in Flutterwave to $225
million," it said in a statement, adding that the COVID-19
pandemic had accelerated the shift to digital payments in
Africa.
The fundraising round was led by Avenir Growth Capital and
Tiger Global Management LLC.
"Flutterwave is at the forefront of innovation in payments
technology," said Jamie Reynolds, a partner at Avenir Growth
Capital.
"We are excited to support the team as they build the last
available payments infrastructure frontier in the world –
connecting merchants and consumers intra-Africa and globally."
Other backers in this funding round included venture capital
firms Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital and Greycroft
Capital.
The completion of the fundraising round, a little more than
a year after Flutterwave announced a partnership with Visa V.N
and Worldpay, highlights the growing interest in the burgeoning
payments market in Africa.
In October U.S. payments company Stripe bought Nigerian
fintech business Paystack for $200 million and in late 2019 Visa
V.N bought a 20% stake in Nigerian payments company
Interswitch, the main platform for the country's
business-to-business transactions.