Flutterwave buys Nigeria’s Mono in rare African fintech exit

Summary

Africa’s largest fintech company, Flutterwave, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock deal valued between $25 million and $40 million, according to people familiar with the transaction. The acquisition brings together two of Africa’s leading fintech infrastructure companies. Flutterwave operates one of the continent’s widest payments networks, while Mono, often described as the “Plaid for Africa,” has built APIs that allow businesses to access bank data, initiate payments, and verify customers. Mono has raised about $17.5 million from investors, including Tiger Global, General Catalyst, and Target Global. Sources close to the deal said the acquisition allowed all its investors to at least recoup their capital, with some early backers realizing returns of up to 20x. Mono will continue to operate as an independent product, the companies said in a statement. Founded in 2020, Mono, like Plaid, uses APIs that allow users to consent to sharing their bank information, enabling financial institutions to analyze income, spending patterns, and repayment capacity. The company addresses the lack of standardized access to bank data across African markets, where credit bureaus remain limited and fintechs, especially lenders, often rely on customers’ bank transaction histories to assess creditworthiness. According to CEO Abdulhamid Hassan, nearly all Nigerian digital lenders now rely on Mono’s infrastructure. The company claims to have powered more than 8 million bank account linkages, covering roughly 12% of Nigeria’s banked population. It also claims to have delivered 100 billion financial data points to lending companies and processed millions in direct bank payments. Customers include Visa-backed Moniepoint and GIC-backed PalmPay. For Flutterwave, which powers local and cross-border payments across more than 30 African countries, the deal deepens its vertical integration. In addition to payments, the company can now offer onboarding and identity checks...