Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola is widening his firm’s ambitions previous card and cell cash funds, betting that financial institution information will drive Africa’s subsequent fintech growth.
Flutterwave mentioned it has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all inventory transaction. Individuals conversant in the deal put the worth at $25 million to $40 million. The acquisition closed in December 2025 and was introduced Monday.
Agboola runs one of many continent’s greatest cost networks, serving to retailers settle for native and cross border transfers throughout greater than 30 African international locations. Mono brings a special type of plumbing: utility programming interfaces that permit companies, with buyer consent, pull checking account information, confirm identities and provoke direct financial institution funds.
“Funds, information, and belief can’t exist in silos,” Agboola mentioned in a press release, calling open banking a hyperlink that may make funds safer and credit score selections smarter.
Based in 2020, Mono has raised about $17.5 million from traders together with Tiger International, Normal Catalyst and Goal International. Sources near the transaction mentioned all traders no less than recouped their capital, whereas some early backers noticed returns as much as 20 occasions. Mono will maintain working as an unbiased product, the businesses mentioned.
Mono CEO Abdulhamid Hassan mentioned its instruments now sit behind most of Nigeria’s digital lending market. He mentioned almost all native digital lenders depend on Mono, which the startup says has powered greater than 8 million checking account linkages, about 12% of Nigeria’s banked inhabitants. Mono additionally says it has delivered 100 billion monetary information factors to lenders and processed tens of millions of direct financial institution funds. Shoppers embrace Moniepoint and PalmPay.
The acquisition lands as governments push lending led monetary inclusion, whereas entry to dependable credit score information stays patchy. Credit score bureaus in lots of markets are restricted, leaving lenders to lean on transaction histories to guage earnings, spending and compensation capability.
“If the financial system goes to be credit score pushed, you want deep information intelligence,” Hassan mentioned. He added that regulators should additionally belief that buyer funds and data are protected for open banking to scale.
Flutterwave mentioned combining Mono’s information rails with its funds stack will let companies onboard customers quicker, run checking account checks, rating danger and arrange one time or recurring account to account funds.
The deal provides to a brief checklist of sizable fintech exits on the continent, the place acquisitions stay unusual. Infrastructure corporations start to consolidate round confirmed platforms.
