Nigeria’s Flutterwave Listed Among Most Valued Y Combinator Companies

Flutterwave Raises $170M Series C to Expand to North Africa, Hits $1Bn Valuation

Nigerian fintech, Flutterwave has made the list of top Y Combinator companies by valuation and top exits as of January 2021. Flutterwave is ranked 115 out of 134 global tech companies featured on the shortlist.

American startup accelerator, Y Combinator estimates the 134 companies at a combined valuation of over $300 billion, with each company valued at more than $150 million. Over 60,000 jobs have been created in total by the companies, according to Y Combinator.

According to Crunchbase, Flutterwave’s valuation lies between $100 million to $500 million as of January 21, 2020.

Screenshot from YCombinator Top Companies

In 2020, Flutterwave raised $35 million in a Series B round led by US venture capital firms, Greycroft and eVentures. The $35 million round was one of the top funding deals closed in the Nigerian tech space last year.

https://technext.ng/2020/12/28/from-bolt-to-flutterwave-here-are-the-top-5-nigerian-tech-fund-raisers-of-2020/

Headquartered in Lagos and San-Francisco, Flutterwave is the only Nigerian tech company to appear on the list, although Stripe-acquired Paystack is featured in the top 3.

Valued at up to $100 billion, U.S. rental online marketplace AirBnB is the highest ranked company on the list, followed by food delivery service, DoorDash and e-payments giant, Stripe.

Stripe ranks 3rd on the Y Combinator list

Stripe is worth over $36 billion. Last year, the company acquired Nigerian e-payments service provider, Paystack for over $200 million, the largest ever startup exit in the Nigerian tech ecosystem.

https://technext.ng/2020/10/15/stripe-acquires-paystack-for-200m-the-biggest-ever-startup-acquisition-in-nigeria/

In 2016, Paystack became the first Nigerian startup to enter into the Y Combinator accelerator program. Since then, many other Nigerian startups have passed through the 3-month prestigious entrepreneurial program for founders.

Suggested read: Nigeria Has Produced More YCombinator Cohorts Than Any other African Country

As of 2019, Digest Africa reported that 13 of the 28 African startups to have participated in the Y Combinator program over the last 10 years were Nigerian companies.

Apart from Flutterwave and Paystack, other Y Combinator-trained Nigerian startups include Cowrywise, Helium Health, Bamboo, 54gene, Kudi, Releaf, Kobo360 and CredPal, among others.

Known for investing in early-stage startups for a 7% equity, YCombinator has funded up to 2,412 startups since 2014.


Technext Newsletter

Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!

Register for Technext Coinference 2023, the Largest blockchain and DeFi Gathering in Africa.

Technext Newsletter

Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!