Ripple Invests in Flutterwave’s Series E Round at US$3.2 Billion Valuation
Flutterwave has secured a strategic investment from Ripple as part of its Series E funding round, valuing the African payments company at US$3.2 billion. The transaction underscores growing investor interest in cross-border payment infrastructure across Africa, where demand for faster and more cost-efficient settlement solutions continues to rise.
According to the companies, the partnership is designed to reduce settlement delays in international transfers by integrating Ripple’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, into Flutterwave’s payment infrastructure. The collaboration is also expected to help lower foreign exchange costs, which remain a major challenge for businesses and consumers moving money across African markets.
Stablecoin Integration Across Flutterwave’s Network
The partnership will involve several technical integrations across Flutterwave’s ecosystem. RLUSD will be embedded as a primary settlement asset for high-volume transactions routed through Flutterwave’s payment rails and its Send App remittance corridors.
In addition, Flutterwave plans to use the XRP Ledger to support faster clearing and will deploy a unified API to connect its domestic network with Ripple Payments. By combining local payment methods such as mobile wallets, bank transfers and cards with blockchain-based settlement, the companies said they aim to improve pricing predictability and enable near real-time settlement.
The companies also highlighted the potential to reduce wide foreign exchange margins, which have historically added complexity and cost to cross-border commerce across the continent.
Executives Highlight Settlement and Growth Potential
Reece Merrick, Managing Director for Middle East and Africa at Ripple, said Flutterwave has built one of the most advanced payments networks in Africa and noted that stablecoins are becoming increasingly important as the company’s infrastructure evolves.
“Our investment will establish RLUSD within that infrastructure, with Flutterwave driving stablecoin flows over the XRPL and deepening its role as a settlement layer for real-world payments across the continent,” Merrick said.
Flutterwave Founder and Chief Executive Officer Olugbenga “GB” Agboola said the capital injection will help the company scale its infrastructure and expand its stablecoin capabilities.
“By unlocking faster settlement and lower-cost cross-border payments, we are building a payment superhighway that connects African commerce directly to the global economy,” Agboola said.
Flutterwave’s Funding and Transaction Volume
Flutterwave said it has raised more than US$500 million to date. The company has also processed over one billion transactions with a total value exceeding US$50 billion, reflecting its scale across African and international payment flows.
Industry Analysis
The investment highlights the growing role of stablecoins in modern payment infrastructure, particularly in markets where cross-border transfers are slowed by currency conversion costs and settlement frictions. Ripple’s backing of Flutterwave suggests increasing confidence in blockchain-enabled payment rails as a practical tool for commercial transactions rather than a purely speculative asset class.
For Africa’s payments landscape, the move could accelerate competition among fintech firms seeking to offer faster and cheaper international settlement. It also reinforces the strategic value of combining local payment networks with digital asset infrastructure to improve liquidity, reduce costs and support real-time commerce.
