Circle Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Circle Internet Group, has made a strategic investment in African payments technology company Flutterwave to support the expansion of USDC settlement across its payments platform.

The investment follows Flutterwave’s participation in the launch of the Circle Payments Network in 2025 and supports the company’s plans to integrate USDC settlement into its payment infrastructure.

The integration will allow businesses to collect payments in local currencies while settling transactions in USDC, with the aim of reducing settlement times and costs and enabling transactions outside traditional banking hours.

Flutterwave said the investment supports its strategy of using stablecoins as part of its payments infrastructure while operating within existing regulatory and compliance frameworks.

“This support from Circle Ventures is about backing the rails that will power the next era of global money movement from Africa,” said Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave.

“Stablecoins like USDC are no longer an experiment; they are becoming core financial infrastructure. By embedding USDC settlement into our current payments infrastructure, we are building a system that lets businesses move money at the speed of the internet.”

“This fundamentally changes how payments from Africa connect to the world and it positions Flutterwave as the default stablecoin gateway for the continent.”

According to Flutterwave, global stablecoin circulation now exceeds US$300 billion, with Africa among the fastest-growing markets for adoption.

The company said it is expanding its platform into a multi-rail payments system that supports fiat currencies, bank transfers, payment cards and stablecoins, giving businesses greater flexibility in how transactions are settled.