Nigerian payments upstart Flutterwave has acquired an unknown amount of funding from Circle Ventures, Circle Internet Group’s corporate venture arm, to help its efforts to integrate USDC settlement directly into the payment flows that businesses already use. Africans & Diaspora
Flutterwave, founded in 2016, develops modern payment technologies and infrastructure for Africa, allowing people and businesses to interact with the global economy. Its solution enables banks and merchants to replace many payment integrations with a single simple API that can handle any type of payment anywhere in Africa. To date, the company has processed over $40 billion in payments and facilitated over 1 billion unique transactions.
The company announced last month that it had raised a Series E round of funding valued at US$3.2 billion, and it has now received a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Circle Internet Group, following Flutterwave’s participation in the launch of Circle Payments Network in 2025.
This funding supports Flutterwave’s efforts to integrate USDC settlement directly into the payment flows that businesses utilize today. Merchants can collect locally and settle in USDC, cutting delays and expenses while allowing for near-instant settlement outside typical banking hours.
The core of this investment is Flutterwave’s goal to establish stablecoins as vital financial infrastructure for ensuring reliable and rapid settlements in Africa. Flutterwave offers blockchain-based payments that comply with existing regulatory regulations and company operating standards by incorporating USDC settlement into a compliance-first framework.
“This support from Circle Ventures is about backing the rails that will power the next era of global money movement from Africa. Stablecoins like USDC are no longer an experiment; they are becoming core financial infrastructure, By embedding USDC settlement into our current payments infrastructure, we are building a system that lets businesses move money at the speed of the internet. This fundamentally changes how payments from Africa connect to the world and it positions Flutterwave as the default stablecoin gateway for the continent.” said Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
