#18: Flutterwave - From Y Combinator to becoming one of Africa’s largest FinTech platforms
Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessPlay episode
Show notes
Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Flutterwave - the African payments infrastructure company - we’ll give some context of the Nigerian payments sector before 2014, Flutterwave's founding, early history, growth over time & end with our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Dec 13, 2020.
Companies discussed: Flutterwave, Y Combinator (YC), Fora.com, Interswitch, Adyen, Visa, MasterCard, Stripe, Shopify & Paystack
Business concepts discussed: Payments ecosystem, payments partnerships strategy, startup accelerators, payments infrastructure, low-end disruption, banking regulation & payments M&A strategy
Conversation highlights:
(1:35) - Why Flutterwave is important
(04:10) - Background on Iyin “E” Aboyeji
(11:38) - How payments worked before Flutterwave (before 2014) in Nigeria
(16:40) - Flutterwave closed beta and Y Combinator 2016
(19:36) - Flutterwave growth and product launches
(30:15) - Fundraising - Series A, Series B and valuation
(42:50) - Partnerships - Visa, AliPay & WorldPay
(48:00) - Payments landscape and competition
(57:56) - Flutterwave today
(1:02:42) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:06:10) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:14:29) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions
Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:
Recommendation: Millionaires Unveiled podcast episode 47: $40K salary and $1.4M net worth. Loved the story of happiness and perseverance and being contrarian to live a unique life
Small win: Drinking Kale/berry smoothie mix (vs 2 blending vegetables and berries separately)
Open question: What are the next FinTech platforms? What can be built on top of flutterwave?
Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions:
Recommendation: Productive Uncertainty | Reaction Wheel - link
Small win: Getting to Division 2 in FIFA 21 Online seasons
Other content: Flutterwave on Y Combinator
Open question: What do you think are potential exit options for Flutterwave?
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