Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has been ranked No. 1 in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Company for Europe, Middle East, and Africa 2024, joining others like Nvidia, Open AI, or Youtube on the list.

This year’s list shines a spotlight on businesses that are shaping industry and culture through their innovations. These organizations are setting new standards and achieving remarkable milestones in all sectors of the economy. Alongside the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies, Fast Company recognizes 606 organizations across 58 sectors and regions.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized as No. 1 in the Most Innovative Company Europe, Middle East, and Africa Category. Innovation is an integral part of our core values, which we continue to adopt across all parts of our business. Every day, we come to work, and we live and breathe innovation. We’ve since built out Africa’s biggest payment network by reach, created solutions that make payments solutions, currency exchanges, e-commerce, and remittances easier for global companies selling in Africa, local businesses and Africans alike. There’s more in the pipeline. I want to dedicate this recognition to our Team; they’re indeed the secret sauce to all we do,” Olugbenga Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said.

Over the past 18 months, Flutterwave has supercharged its offerings for global enterprises – the company has built out key solutions, payouts, and collections to support the growth and expansion of multinationals across Africa. 

These solutions not only help global enterprises collect and make payouts in multiple currencies but also enable them to move their money around easily and with the flexibility needed to take advantage of investment opportunities speedily. 

To further increase efficiency in its engineering and product development, Flutterwave collaborated with Microsoft to scale up its comprehensive payment solutions on Azure seamlessly. Similarly, in keeping with its promise of connecting Africa to the world, Flutterwave partnered with Token.io to enable open banking for its UK and EU customers and introduce African businesses to millions of global customers. 

These collaborations and many others solidify the company’s position as the payment technology provider of choice for global enterprises seeking expansion into African countries while assuring that multinationals’ local and international payment collections or payouts are comprehensively and securely processed without hassle.  

They have also increased the reach of their remittance solution Send App by Flutterwave with additional reach in Canada and the US.

Other key collaborations that Flutterwave customers have found useful include Audiomack Plus, which allows African artists to monetize their skills, contributing to Africa’s growing music industry, as well as mobile money and cash pick-ups in selected destinations for Africans, especially older adults, at home to receive remittances in their most preferred cash withdrawal method. 

Google Pay, Apple Pay, and International Card Payments are also integrated for Send App users in the US, EU, UK, and Canada to send money to friends, family, and business partners in Africa.

The World’s Most Innovative Companies stands as Fast Company‘s hallmark franchise and one of its most anticipated editorial efforts of the year.

Fast Company‘s editors and writers identified the companies driving progress around the world and across industries, evaluating thousands of submissions through a competitive application process. The result is a globe-spanning guide to innovation today, from early-stage startups to some of the most valuable companies in the world. 

Fast Company’sMost Innovative Companies package is available online, as well as in-app form via iTunes, and on newsstands beginning March 26. The hashtag is #FCMostInnovative.

“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is both a comprehensive look at the innovation economy and a snapshot of the business trends that defined the year,” said Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “We saw extraordinary innovation across the board in 2023, but we also saw a handful of clear patterns: the growing footprint and impact of AI, the triumphant return of live events, and great leaps forward in climate tech. We face daunting challenges on many fronts, but the solutions we celebrate in MIC give me plenty of hope about the future.”