The year is starting with a bang for Africa’s most valuable unicorn, Flutterwave (@theflutterwave). The company has acquired YC-backed Fintech startup Mono (@mono_hq) in an all-stock, eight-figure acquisition, estimated to be between $20million - $50million. Mono helps businesses track customer financials and initiate payments successfully across multiple banks and fintechs. With this acquisition, Mono continues to operate independently, leveraging Flutterwave’s reach to scale its services across Africa. Flutterwave continues its broader vision to connect payments across Africa, and this is another step in that direction.

I want one million followers.

The Nigerian YC Mafia has raised $412M from Nigeria. Not vibes. Not grants. Real companies. Real revenue. Real scale. LemFi. Vendease. ThriveAgric. Nomba. Reliance Health. Helium Health. CredPal. Chowdeck. They didn’t escape Nigeria to build great companies. They stayed and built despite the infrastructure, the capital gaps, the noise. So maybe the problem isn’t Nigerian founders. Maybe it never was. Who else belongs in the Nigerian YC Mafia?