TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025: Flutterwave
The reach of Africa's most valuable fintech goes well beyond the continent. In 2024 the nine-year-old Nigeria-based startup, now valued at $3 billion, expanded its money transfer services across every U.S. state except Texas via its Send App, which the company says completes nearly all (98%) transactions within five minutes. Flutterwave also launched digital payment tools for enterprises in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. But at its core, Flutterwave is still committed to enabling African commerce. A fragmented regulatory environment and tough macroeconomic conditions, among other factors, make operating in Africa significantly more challenging than in the West, says CEO Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola: 'I wish it was boring.' Still, the company has steadily expanded across Africa in recent years, now operating in nearly three dozen countries; it processed over $31 billion in transactions in 2024. Despite a spate of toxic workplace allegations in 2022, which Agboola denies but which led to new executive leadership, the company has continued to attract fresh investment and secure vital commercial partnerships. The current goal: profitability by the end of 2025. 'We're here for the long game,' Agboola says.
Disclosure: Investors in Flutterwave include Salesforce, where TIME co-chair and owner Marc Benioff is CEO.
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