Nigeria’s Flutterwave Recognised as ‘Pioneer’ in 2021 TIME 100 Most Influential Companies

Nigerian fintech company, Flutterwave has been listed as a “Pioneer” on TIME’s newly released list of the 100 Most Influential Companies making an extraordinary impact around the world.

The company makes history as the only African company to make this year’s list in a lineup that includes big wigs like Apple, Twitter and Stripe.

According to TIME, the Nigerian company was selected for its efforts in powering retailers after the pandemic restricted movements in the region.

Its co-founder and CEO, Olugbenga Agboola, explained that when pandemic lockdowns hit brick-and-mortar businesses, the digital payment service started a free campaign tagged “keeping the lights on.” This campaign, according to him, was able to rapidly set up digital storefronts for 20,000 customers, throwing them a lifeline.

Flutterwave came to the limelight after achieving tech-unicorn status in March. The company raised about $170 million in Series C funding from global investors, valuing the company at more than $1 billion.

Times 100 Most Influential Companies

Aside payments, the list contains a diverse array of institutions, from the tech startup engineering a smarter way to recycle to pharma titans creating the vaccines of tomorrow.

According to TIME, the list was solicited through nominations from its global network of editors and correspondents, as well as from industry experts. The sectors represented include health care, entertainment, transportation, technology, and more. Each company was then evaluated on key factors including relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition, and success.

The list was divided into 5 categories; Pioneers, Leaders, innovators Disruptors and Titans.

Under pioneers, the list included Rihana’s SAVAGE X FENTY, the female dating site, Bumble, and Plant-based protein company, Beyond Meat, amongst others.

For Leaders, there is the people’s favourite Apple, Twitter, Nike Nubank, Mastercard, Volkswagen and the English Premier League, amongst others.

Innovators on the list include payment giant Stripe, game company Nintendo, Zoom, Spotify and streaming giants, Netflix to mention a few.

Under Titans, the list contains big tech across the world from Facebook and Amazon to Alibaba, Google, Paypal, Samsung, Microsoft and Tencent to list a few.

Finally, there are the disruptors that comprise companies disrupting their sectors like some of the startups that sprouted around the COVID-19 pandemic. The list includes TikTok, Hauwei, Clubhouse, AirBnB, SpaceX, Robinhood and Onlyfans, amongst others.

Congratulations to all the recognized companies.