Flutterwave Inc. has acquired open-banking startup Mono Technologies Nigeria Ltd. in a move aimed at boosting earnings, deepening its payments infrastructure and strengthening its prospects for a future initial public offering (IPO).
The Lagos- and San Francisco-based fintech company confirmed the acquisition this week, although the value and terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mono, founded in Nigeria, has been a long-time technology partner of Flutterwave since 2021.
Speaking on the development, Flutterwave’s Chief Executive Officer, Olugbenga Agboola, said the acquisition aligns with the company’s renewed focus on profitability, resilience and building stronger infrastructure.
“Our focus right now is profitability, resilience and better infrastructure, and that is why we acquired Mono. It makes us a better candidate for everything, including an IPO,” Agboola said.
He explained that Flutterwave previously paid Mono on a per-transaction basis for account-to-account payment services. By bringing the open-banking platform in-house, the company expects to lower operating costs and expand its profit margin on those transactions to at least 10 per cent.
Mono has grown into a key player in Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, enabling businesses to securely access customer financial data to support credit decisions, faster customer onboarding, fraud reduction and seamless payment processes.
Flutterwave is also banking on Mono’s technology to tap into wider payment opportunities expected to emerge from the ongoing recapitalisation of Nigeria’s banking sector, which is projected to drive increased lending, trade and e-commerce activities.
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave operates in about 35 African countries, supports payments in over 30 currencies and processes roughly 500,000 transactions daily. The company last raised funding in January 2022, when its valuation reportedly rose to about $3 billion, making it Africa’s most valuable fintech startup.
Flutterwave had earlier announced plans in 2022 to list on the Nasdaq Exchange in the United States but later delayed and eventually paused the move, citing the need to build a profitable and sustainable business. The company also faced challenges at the time, including senior staff exits and allegations of financial misconduct and workplace harassment, which it denied.
Agboola said the Mono acquisition is part of efforts to deepen Flutterwave’s payments “rail” across Nigeria and the continent.
“We are the rail that carries transactions across the country and across Africa, and acquiring Mono helps us deepen that rail. If an IPO knocks, that makes it even easier,” he said, while declining to give a timeline for a public listing.
