African fintech company, Flutterwave, is aiming at a global expansion, and the company has started putting in the works for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Nasdaq stocks exchange.
Flutterwave, which is currently valued at over $3 billion, has its headquarters in both Lagos and San Francisco. The company said the IPO will help its quest for an expansion within its existing market, and also spread its operations to new markets.
According to the Chief Financial Officer, Oneal Bhambani, Flutterwave has “attractive market potential” and opportunity to push for an expansion into more countries. Bhambani said in an interview that the listing is an initiative of the payments company to reach the “scale and trajectory comparable to what other investors seemed to invest in the public markets.“
Flutterwave is backed by B Capital Group, and TPG. The unicorn company has been hitting a couple of backlash, recently. Flutterwave had its bank accounts in Kenya frozen under anti-money laundering rules. Kenya’s central bank also said Flutterwave is not licensed to operate payments services in the country.
The company has also been struggling with allegations and lawsuits. Some of the allegations include harassment, bullying, and the claims of Flutterwave refusing former employees stock rights. These series of allegations have casted doubts over the possibilities of the IPO plans’ feasibility.
The company has, however, denied the allegations surrounding financial misconducts, and claims that it has taken actions against those found culpable for any form of harassment and bullying in the company.
Flutterwave, which claims to have completed 200 million transactions valued at 16 billion dollars, said that it is expanding its services out of cross-border transaction, and adding lending to its services – through Flutterwave Capital. Flutterwave Capital will provide collateral-free, digital loans to business owners in Nigeria.
“We are a growth company, we have a tremendous opportunity to invest and really develop solutions for the largest enterprises in the world that transact in Africa,” Bhambani said.
Bhambani also noted that Flutterwave is working on commencing its lending services by end of this year.