The butterfly effect refers to a situation where a small change in one state has an impact on a bigger change in the future. For example, the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one location, eventually leading to a tornado in another.
We got our name ‘Flutterwave’ from this understanding. When we were starting Flutterwave, we knew that the name would go before us so we needed a name that would speak to our huge and monumental future while embodying our little beginnings.
It all started in a small office space in Lagos, Nigeria – with only a handful of us as a team. We thought of ourselves as a formidable team. A team that did not take “No” for an answer. A team of doers, movers, thinkers, builders and most importantly, Wavers.
We had a goal; to unite Africa through payments. We needed to make the continent feel like a country. We needed to unlock doors of opportunities for the over 500 million young people in this beautiful continent. Have we been able to achieve it? Well, we are just beginning.
Will we achieve it? Definitely!
Nothing says “definitely” louder than the announcement that we have now raised a Series C round of $170m to improve our technology, product, customer support, expand to new frontiers and continue to provide support needed for everyday mom-and-pop shops to sell to global markets.
I have to say that our journey has been quite remarkable – not only did we start from scratch to build a payment product never built before, but we did this in a space that was so fragmented that someone in Rwanda didn’t have an efficient way of sending money to someone in Nigeria, before 2016.
It has taken a lot of grit, dogged determination and an irrefutable belief in our ability to achieve this dream. It took trust when there was nothing to trust except gut feelings. It took respect. It took resilience, consistency and devotion to a dream of creating endless possibilities for the continent.
It took you, our investors. If we didn’t get our Series A funding the time we did, which effectively helped us scale, we probably wouldn’t be here. You not only came through, but you came through, timely enough to have us continue on our growth and expansion drive. We’re deeply grateful.
It took you, our regulators and partners. We are immensely grateful to all of you that gave us a chance, provided a safe environment for our operations and importantly helped us scale at the speed with which we did.
It took you, the customers of our customers. You keep our customers in business and help us to support them every time you make payments via a Flutterwave checkout page or store. We are immensely grateful and as you may know, there’s something for everyone at Flutterwave. Pick a product and become a customer yourself. Keep buying from a Flutterwave business. Most importantly, keep supporting small businesses – they are the lifeblood of our communities and economy.
It took you, our customers. All of you. Over 290,000 of you brought us this far. What would we have done without you? You trusted us when we didn’t have a name. Now we do, our promise remains to continue improving your favourite Flutterwave products like Barter by Flutterwave, Store, Checkout, Payment links etc., create cutting edge technology, continue to provide personalised and efficient support as you carry out your daily business activities.
This is why I’m excited to tell you that we have just launched a new mobile app; Flutterwave Mobile. You can now take your business with you, anytime, anywhere. Download on Playstore here and App Store here.
To Africa, our home. You inspired us and gave us the strength to pull through the most challenging times of our growth story. You gave us the needed direction and you always welcomed our initiative. As we go to meet the world in full force, we must never forget that it all started from here. Flutterwave was built by Africa’s best and brightest and now we are the gateway of choice to Africa.
To you, our people. What would I say that had not been said? You all took a dream and made it a piece of technology. Took a piece of technology and made it a product and in turn made it a world class product. You did this. This is our moment. The journey ahead is challenging. But for now, we must all pat ourselves for our achievements so far.
Tomorrow, we set out to sail; with a stronger belief in our mission to simplify payments for endless possibilities.
Are we nervous? Maybe a little. But are we convinced of our natural ability to do what has never been done before? Definitely! It’s all unfamiliar terrain but we hope to come out on the other side of things, with our heads held up, knowing that we came, we saw, and we conquered.
Cheers to many more wins.
GB