Ripple participated in Flutterwave’s Series E round, helping push the African payments company’s total funding above $500 million and valuing it at $3.2 billion.
The partnership will embed Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin and XRP Ledger into Flutterwave’s payment infrastructure to support faster settlement, liquidity management, remittances, and cross-border payments.
The deal highlights the growing race to control stablecoin infrastructure, with Ripple seeking to establish RLUSD and XRPL as foundational components of a major payments network rather than simply offering a standalone digital asset.
African payments infrastructure company Flutterwave revealed that it has received an undisclosed amount of funding from digital asset company Ripple, which contributed to its Series E Round this week. The funds boost Flutterwave’s total raised to more than $500 million.
Notably, the new round values Flutterwave at $3.2 billion as the company moves into the next phrase of its stablecoin strategy that integrates stablecoin-powered settlement, liquidity, and remittance rails. The company hopes this new infrastructure will empower African businesses to bypass frictions associated with legacy payment systems.
Ripple is coming on as a strategic investor, and as such will embed Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, into its payment rails and Send App to create a stablecoin-first payment architecture that eliminates traditional bottlenecks. Flutterwave will also leverage the XRP Ledger (XRPL) for faster transaction clearing and will deploy an API to bridge its domestic network with Ripple’s global payments network.
“Flutterwave has built one of the most advanced payments networks in Africa, and as its infrastructure evolves, stablecoins are becoming central to that story,” said Ripple Managing Director MEA Reece Merrick. “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. Together, we also plan to bring Ripple Payments’ speed and efficiency to cross-border transactions in the region, opening up faster, lower-cost financial services to businesses and consumers at scale.”
Flutterwave will use the funds to bridge traditional financial systems with next-generation digital asset infrastructure. Since it was founded in 2016, Flutterwave has processed over a billion transactions worth over $50 billion. The company accepts payments in more than 30 currencies, processing an average of 500,000 payments each day. In addition to its payments technology, Flutterwave also offers invoicing technology, business loans, and analytics tools. Adding to these capabilities, the company agreed to acquire Mono, an open banking technology company, earlier this year.
This funding announcement and strategic partnership are both reminders of the race for ownership and control in the new stablecoin economy. While Ripple is investing in Flutterwave’s growth, it is also bidding to establish RLUSD and XRPL as foundational components of a major payments network, controling how stablecoins move through the global financial system.
Photo by Damilare Adeyemi
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