Flutterwave promotes 25% of its global workforce in talent retention move
Flutterwave, the Nigerian payments fintech that acquired a microfinance banking licence in April, has promoted over 100 of its employees globally and introduced employee support packages as it marks its tenth operational year. The company said it promoted about 25% of its global workforce, offering cost-of-living adjustments, tax support for employees in Nigeria, and a one-time economic relief payment for employees globally. The company did not disclose the levels or functions of the promoted staff. The move underscores Flutterwave’s focus on talent retention at a time when several Nigerian fintechs, including Branch, Kuda, and Quidax, have reduced headcount in efforts to improve operational efficiency and cut costs. “I often say our people are our secret sauce,” Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave founder and chief executive officer, said. “They are the ultimate engine behind everything we build, giving us the capacity to create solutions that power businesses, unlock opportunities, and move money seamlessly across Africa and beyond.” The move highlights how Flutterwave is evolving from one of Africa’s fastest-growing startups into a larger financial infrastructure company focused on scaling operations and retaining talent. It also reflects a broader shift across the industry, where fintechs are leaning on long-term incentives to retain talent. In South Africa, GoTyme Bank, which became Africa’s latest unicorn in December 2024, recently announced plans to introduce an employee ownership programme as part of a similar push to align staff with long-term business growth. Founded in 2016, Flutterwave built its business by helping merchants accept payments across African markets. The company became one of the continent’s most valuable startups after raising $475.3 million from investors including Tiger Global, Avenir Growth, and B Capital, according to funding tracker Crunchbase. Over the past decade, Flutterwave has expanded beyond payment processing into remittances, consumer financial services, and banking infrastructure. In April, the company deepened its push into financial services after securing approval to acquire a Nigerian microfinance banking licence, giving it a regulated banking vehicle in its home market. Flutterwave said it has processed more than 1 billion transactions and moved over $40 billion in total payment value (TPV) since launch, as it rolled out its employee recognition programme. “Our goal has always been to build an environment where our people can focus on doing their best work, rather than being weighed down by economic anxiety,” Annette Akpolo, Flutterwave’s head of people and culture, said. “Pairing merit-based individual growth with supporting the collective needs of the whole team [is an] essential part of how we build a company culture where people genuinely want to stay and grow over the long term.” The company also said it recorded strong growth across local payment channels over the past year, with wallet-based collections rising 289% in transaction count and bank transfer value increasing 184%, reflecting growing adoption of local payment methods across its markets. The announcement adds to a busy year for Flutterwave. In January, it acquired Mono, a Nigerian open banking startup, in one of the most significant consolidation deals in Africa’s fintech sector this year. The acquisition expanded Flutterwave’s access to financial data infrastructure and strengthened its account-to-account (A2A) payment capabilities. For Flutterwave, which is entering its second decade, the latest employee initiative serves as both a reward for staff and a signal that the company expects continued growth. “At Flutterwave, growth is earned through meaningful contributions to the business and to the mission we are building together,” Agboola said. “As we continue to grow, the people who will shape our future are those who consistently step up, solve hard problems, support others, and move the company forward.”
Read MoreOui Capital’s Pius Bankong on evaluating founders through an operator’s lens
Oui Capital, a Lagos-based venture capital firm, has built one of the most recognisable portfolios in Africa’s tech ecosystem, with bets on startups like Moniepoint and Cauridor. The firm built its portfolio with one operating philosophy: invest early, work closely with founders after the cheque clears, and run a small, hands-on team. In January, Oui added Pius Bankong as its newest investment associate. He comes from the kind of background that increasingly matters and is becoming prevalent in African venture capital. Bankong had spent his career as an operator, leading business operations at fast-growing early-stage startups and working closely with founders and CEOs on product-market fit, fundraising, strategic partnerships, expansion, and team building. He has also been a founder himself through the fintech startup Stead Money. He also advises early-stage companies on the side, several of which later raised capital, grew revenue, and expanded their customer base. That background matters because it speaks to a quiet shift in how African VC is being staffed. For years, the dominant entry route into the asset class was a financial one: investment banking, consulting, or a foreign MBA. Increasingly, funds are recruiting operators who have built and run companies on the continent into investment seats. The argument is that founders are easier to evaluate, support, and align with when the person across the table has sat in their chair. In a young tech market where post-investment support often determines whether a company makes it from seed to Series A, that lived operational experience may be one of the few real differentiators a fund can offer. In our conversation, Bankong explains why he switched from being an operator to investing, what he looks for in a founder that a non-operator might miss, and how his weeks have changed now that the job is more analytical than executional. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You said leading business ops was “pretty much like building the startup from inside.” What part of that work made you curious about the investor side? I do not think it was just one thing. I did several things leading business ops: launching new products, driving global partnerships, expanding into new markets, supporting fundraising, working with leadership to run the internal organisation, and shaping and driving strategic initiatives. That exposure to product, business development, operations, and management provides a solid entrepreneurial foundation. Working in a fast-growing startup also exposed me to insights that could help other founders at slightly earlier stages navigate issues like product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, or general operational strategy. I started advising a few early-stage startups, and I could see the impact it had on both the founders and their companies. They were getting funded, growing revenue, and acquiring more customers. I found that interesting, and I could see how it would be useful as a VC. There is also the fact that building a startup requires you to go deep into one industry. As a VC, you learn about a lot of industries through the deals you work on, and that market education is vital—whether as a VC, as a founder, or as an operator. You mentioned your background helps with identifying, sourcing, and evaluating deals. When you sit across from a founder, what do you read differently because you have sat in their seat? All these nuances come into play. Sometimes you have a great founder who is still figuring out a crucial piece of their product or their market. It is easier to see that and help them think through it. Other times, you might recognise a pitfall or challenge you have experienced and help them avoid making common mistakes. This is because I have been both a founder and an operator who worked very closely with founders in similar situations, so I have some level of firsthand experience. Being both an operator and investor helps me relate more easily to founders while also acquainting them with the investor’s perspective. Founders and investors play different roles, but they are on the same team, and aligning objectives is crucial. Having an operating background also helps with supporting founders post-investment as they look to grow their businesses and expand into new terrains or verticals. Does having built things make you more sympathetic to founders, or harder on them? Why? Neither. It makes me more empathetic. I often understand what they might be experiencing, and I try to offer feedback that is helpful and actionable and hopefully translates to tangible outcomes in a way that is both thoughtful and honest. Is there a blind spot operators bring into VC that you have had to watch out for in yourself? I do not think any specific one comes to mind right now, but just like with any role, you have to think from the perspective and objectives of the organisation and industry and leverage your unique perspective to advance them. An investor is in the business of returns. There are cases where a business might be performing well—which would naturally excite an operator—but it might not be a fit, based on several factors ranging from fund strategy to market dynamics. Being able to make the right call in those situations requires thinking in the context of your role as a VC, and not solely through your operator lens. What does a normal week look like now versus when you were running ops? There are certainly overlaps, and also some divergences. In almost every role I have had, relationship-building was an important piece of it. Likewise, entrepreneurial thinking, the ability to get up to speed on new domains rather quickly, and developing cross-domain expertise have always been at the core of what I do. The difference is that operating in a startup requires a level of depth within the industry related to that startup. In VC, you need to get up to speed on all industries where deals surface, because you have to make informed decisions. I spend a lot of time meeting founders and getting
Read MoreNigerian business banking startup Brass merges operations into Paystack MFB
Brass, a Nigerian business banking startup, will stop operating as an independent company and migrate customers into Paystack Microfinance Bank (Paystack MFB), closing the final chapter of one of Nigeria’s most closely watched fintech rescue deals. In a statement on Monday, Brass said interested customers would be migrated into Paystack MFB before July 31, 2026, as the company integrates its business banking operations into Paystack’s regulated banking infrastructure. “Brass will move its business banking into Paystack MFB,” the company said. “As part of this transition, Brass will no longer operate as an independent entity.” The shutdown marks the culmination of a turbulent two-year period for Brass, which once positioned itself as a modern banking layer for African businesses before a liquidity crisis threatened its survival in 2024. The move comes two years after a consortium led by Paystack, alongside PiggyVest, Ventures Platform, and P1 Ventures, acquired Brass following months of operational turmoil and customer withdrawal delays. Founded in 2020 by Sola Akindolu and Emmanuel Okeke, Brass built a digital banking platform for small businesses, offering business accounts, payroll tools, expense management, and cash-flow tracking. The startup emerged during a wave of African fintechs trying to replace traditional banking infrastructure for startups and SMEs. But by October 2023, the startup began experiencing delays in processing customer withdrawals, with several founders publicly complaining about being unable to access company funds. At the time, investors and ecosystem operators worried that the collapse of a deposit-taking fintech could damage trust in digital financial services more broadly. In May 2024, the Paystack-led consortium acquired Brass for an undisclosed amount in a deal aimed at stabilising operations and preventing a wider confidence crisis in Nigeria’s fintech sector. “We’re excited to act as new stewards for Brass’ mission,” the investors said at the time, describing the acquisition as part of a broader effort to make entrepreneurship “more frictionless and successful.” The acquisition led to a restructuring of the company, with Brass co-founders Akindolu and Okeke exiting the business. In Monday’s announcement, Brass said the months following the acquisition were spent rebuilding internal systems and operational processes under a new leadership team led by Philip Obosi and Yvonne Obike. “As we rebuilt and as our platform became more mature, something became increasingly clear,” the company said. “The next phase of our growth could not be achieved alone.” For Paystack, which was acquired by Stripe in 2020, the move deepens its push beyond payments into broader financial operations for African businesses. In January, Paystack entered Nigeria’s banking sector with the acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank. Paystack MFB offers treasury, transfers, and business banking services, making Brass’s business accounts and operations stack a closer fit within its existing infrastructure. The integration also highlights how Africa’s fintech market is evolving after years of venture-backed growth. During the funding boom of 2020 to 2022, startups often built overlapping financial products while competing aggressively for customers. As capital tightened and regulators increased scrutiny, consolidation has become more common across the sector. In January, Flutterwave, Africa’s largest payments startup, acquired open banking startup Mono. Brass framed its transition as a continuation rather than an ending. “This transition marks a new chapter,” the company said, “with even greater capability for the businesses we serve.”
Read MoreSpiro raises $215 million as race for Africa’s EV market heats up
Spiro, the electric mobility company building battery-swapping infrastructure for motorcycles across Africa, has raised $215 million in equity funding as it pushes deeper into a capital-intensive race to electrify urban transport. The round, backed by investors including Impact Fund Denmark and Equitane, comes four months after Spiro secured $50 million in debt financing and less than a year after a separate $100 million equity raise led by Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA). The latest investment signals continued investor appetite for electric mobility businesses that control both vehicles and the infrastructure needed to keep them running. While several African startups have entered the sector, battery-swapping networks remain expensive to build, requiring dense station coverage, battery inventory and local assembly capacity. Spiro is positioning itself for the growing demand for electric motorcycles as fuel costs rise and governments seek to reduce reliance on imported petroleum products. The company says riders can cut operating costs by up to 40% compared to petrol-powered bikes. The fresh capital will fund expansion of its swapping network, manufacturing operations and energy infrastructure, including solar-powered swap stations and battery storage systems. Founded in 2022, Spiro operates in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon. The company said in a statement that it has deployed more than 100,000 electric motorcycles and built over 2,500 battery-swapping stations across its markets. The raise adds to a growing flow of climate and infrastructure capital into Africa’s electric transport sector. Investors are backing companies that combine vehicle financing, energy infrastructure and local manufacturing rather than focusing only on vehicle sales. Spiro assembles vehicles in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda and operates a battery recycling facility in Nigeria. The company said it plans further expansion into markets including Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “This past year marked a defining strategic milestone for Spiro,” founder Gagan Gupta said in a statement, pointing to the company’s vehicle deployments and swap-station network across seven markets. The funding strengthens Spiro’s position in a crowded market that includes players such as Ampersand, Roam and BasiGo, even as questions remain over how quickly electric mobility operators can reach profitability while financing large infrastructure rollouts across multiple countries.
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