Flutterwave, an African payments technology company, has become the industry’s latest unicorn, picking up a valuation of over $1bn during its most recent funding round. The Series C round saw Flutterwave pick up an investment of $170m.

The round, led by Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management, brings the total investment in the company to $225m.

Flutterwave – founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Olugbenga Agboola – will the capital in the acceleration of customer acquisition in existing and international markets, as well as the development of complementary and innovative products such as the newly launched Flutterwave Mobile, an app which aims to help accelerate eCommerce growth.

“When Flutterwave was founded in 2016, the payments landscape in Africa was highly fragmented so the goal was to build a pan-African platform that simplified payments for everyone. However our successes would not be possible without (1) Our amazing team of 300+ employees that work tirelessly to achieve our goals (2) The trust and support we have received from our investors and customers and (3) Regulatory bodies like the Central Bank of Nigeria… This humbling support has created the backbone upon which companies like Flutterwave have been able to thrive,” said Agboola.

“As we look to the future, our focus remains the same which is to stand by our 290,000 merchants across Africa every day as they strive to build their mom-and-pop stores into global businesses. We look forward to increasing our investments across the continent and deepening the impact our platform has on lives and livelihoods as we take more businesses in Africa to the World, and at the same time continue to bring more of the World to Africa.”