Payments corporation Flutterwave, which is based in Nigeria and whose valuation has since ballooned to over $3 billion, has announced the appointment of Oneal Bhambani as its new Chief Financial Officer.
The new CFO joins the company from American Express and Kabbage. His tasks at the two companies entailed the management of fintech products. He also played a key role in the sale of Kabbage and its integration within the American Express Global Commercial Services segment.
Flutterwave is one of the most funded companies in Africa. It tops the charts in the continent with the said valuation, and this is after it received a $250M Series D round a few months ago.
Oneal Bhambani, CFO
According to a statement from the company, Oneal will serve a key function in enabling the company’s expansion with best-in-class discipline, operational controls, and financial rigor.
During his tenure at Kabbage, he was responsible for all of the company’s financial operations and functions including IPO-ready financial and operational controls.
When Kabbage was acquired by American Express in April 2022, he was the CFO and Head of Capital Markets of Kabbage’s business unit, which provides credit, banking, and payments solutions to American Express’ commercial customers.
Prior to the April acquisition, Oneal was a key stakeholder in capital allocation and led critical strategic initiatives for the business.
Earlier in his career, Oneal was a growth-stage investor at The TCW Group (an investment firm owned by The Carlyle Group), and Riverwood Capital.
He began his career in investment banking at UBS.
Flutterwave New Hires
Flutterwave has since hired Rebecca Mendel, former Kabbage Controller, and Daniel Eidson, former Kabbage Head of Treasury and Tax.
Both Rebecca and Daniel will report directly to Oneal.
April Controversy
In April this year, Flutterwave was battling a controversy when a report alleged that the company’s top leadership was engaged in harassment, mismanagement, bullying, and even cases of insider trading.
The company’s CEO Olugbenga Agboola was mentioned in the allegations, and there were many calls that wanted to see him resign. This has not happened.
Quotes
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said:
“I am excited to welcome Oneal to Flutterwave. His track record of operating finance to enable scale and innovation with listed company standard financial controls will help us accelerate our growth as we continue to meet the needs of our expanding global customer base. I am also looking forward to working with Oneal on deal-related initiatives, given the number of inorganic opportunities we are seeing in today’s market environment.”
Commenting on his appointment,Oneal Bhambanisaid:
“It is a rare opportunity to join a high-scale, de facto market leader in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. I am looking forward to partnering with Flutterwave’s team to enable solutions for our customers in Africa and across the globe. I fully expect to apply best-in-class strategies learned from my tenures at American Express and Kabbage.”
