Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
Flutterwave, the African payments infrastructure company, has partnered with Techdollar, a private credit platform, to offer its employees loans backed by their company equity, without having to sell any shares. The banking side will run on Nuvion’s infrastructure.
Nuvion is a business bank based in Miami, Florida, licensed in more than 10 markets including the UK, US, EU, Canada, Bahrain and Hong Kong. It offers multi-currency accounts, payment rails and treasury tools through a single API.
This is the first time Techdollar has offered a company-wide employee benefit. Until now, this kind of lending has mostly been open to founders, senior executives, and large shareholders.
Flutterwave employees can open accounts with Nuvion to receive funds from Techdollar’s equity-backed loans. They retain their shares and any future value increases.
Nuvion will facilitate the transfer of money to employees, linking Techdollar’s lending solution to accounts where borrowers can access their funds.
Techdollar and Flutterwave say the move responds to a wider problem. Tech companies are staying private for longer, so employees build up wealth in equity but have few ways to use it. Their main options are to sell shares or wait for an IPO or a company-run sale of shares.
In August, the Nigerian-founded payments infrastructure company partnered with US-based Caliza to offer its customers dedicated USD accounts connected to both domestic and international payment rails through a single integration.
“I always say that our people are our secret sauce and the driving force behind our success at Flutterwave, and we believe they should share in the value they create without having to wait for a major liquidity event. By opening an account with Nuvion, our team can seamlessly receive their equity-backed proceeds, unlocking the wealth they’ve worked so hard to build while retaining their stake in our shared future, said ” Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
Flutterwave is a payments technology company that lets businesses accept local and cross-border payments in Africa and other emerging markets through one API. It says it has processed more than 1 billion transactions worth over $50 billion.
Its customers include Uber, Air Peace, Bamboo and PiggyVest. The company operates in 34 African countries and supports card payments, mobile wallets, bank transfers and Google Pay. Its Send App handles remittances from the diaspora to African countries.
Last month, Flutterwave hosted a closed-door roundtable in New York with Invest Africa on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81). The session was held under the theme “Africa Forward: Investing in the Next Decade of Growth”.
Additionally, the African company provided the digital payment infrastructure for the initial public offering (IPO) of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.
“Traditional lenders have historically catered to founders and executives with substantial equity holdings, while employees with millions of dollars in private-company shares are often left with limited options. We built Techdollar to address that gap. Partnering with Flutterwave allows us to bring this solution directly to employees, giving them greater financial flexibility without having to sell the equity they’ve worked hard to earn,” said David Tollemache, Co-Founder of Techdollar.
Founded by David Tollemache and Terence McMenamin (who were fund partners at Monarch, which has since been acquired), Techdollar is a private credit platform that lends against equity in private companies.
Techdollar says it funds loans within 24 to 48 hours, using secondary market data and audited ownership checks. It works with companies in AI, robotics, aerospace, defence and frontier technology.
“For too long, employees at some of the world’s most valuable private companies have been building significant wealth without having a practical way to access it. By bringing equity-backed liquidity to an entire workforce, we’re helping make a financial benefit that has historically been reserved for a select few more accessible to the people helping build these companies,” said Terence McMenamin, Co-Founder of Techdollar.
