Flutterwave Collaborates to Expand Chapter's Presence in 11 African Markets
In a significant move for the African tech industry, Kenyan software startup Chpter has announced its expansion into 11 new African countries. This growth milestone is made possible through a strategic partnership with payments giant Flutterwave, which will facilitate seamless cross-border payment integration.
### Expansion Details
The expansion covers 11 African countries beyond Kenya, including Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Zambia. This move aligns with the broader trend in 2025 where African startups are scaling aggressively, benefiting from increased funding and pan-African digital infrastructure growth.
### Implications
This expansion marks a strong step toward regional integration of tech services and digital financial products in Africa, enabling broader accessibility. Chpter’s move challenges outdated perceptions that Africa-built tech cannot scale beyond local markets, joining other successful startups that have scaled across the continent.
The partnership with Flutterwave, a leading African payment platform, highlights the synergy in the fintech ecosystem that supports startups’ expansion. It coincides with a surge in tech startup funding on the continent, which saw a 50% jump in Q2 2025, facilitating larger rounds and enabling scale-ups like Chpter.
### About Chpter
Chpter operates a subscription model ranging from $50 to $550 per month, depending on business size. The startup, which has gone through accelerators by Norrsken and Safaricom, recently launched Pluto, a WhatsApp API suite for businesses to build full customer journeys on the platform. Co-founder and president Tesh Mbaabu stated that Chpter acquired 1,500 merchants in under 4 months this year.
As a Meta Business Partner, Chpter offers features like in-chat checkout, marketing tools, and a unified dashboard for managing conversations across platforms on WhatsApp. Chpter merchants in the new markets can accept payments via mobile money, cards, and bank transfers in local currencies or USD, thanks to Flutterwave's payment infrastructure.
Chpter generates additional revenue through paid messaging and AI interactions, which currently handle about 45% of customer interactions, a figure the company expects to grow to over 80%. The startup, which raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding led by Pani, the investment firm co-founded by former Cellulant CEO Ken Njoroge, in September 2024, continues to attract investors such as Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, and several angels.
This expansion by Chpter illustrates the growing maturity and competitiveness of African startups. It underscores the possibilities for homegrown technology firms to not only serve local needs but also to seize broader continental opportunities, transforming Africa’s digital and economic landscape.
- The strategic partnership between Chpter and Flutterwave, a leading African payment platform, will enable Chpter to accept payments via numerous methods, including mobile money, cards, and bank transfers in local currencies or USD, for merchants in the new markets.
- Chpter's expansion into 11 African countries, impressive growth made possible through their collaboration with Flutterwave, aligns with the broader trend in 2025 of African startups scaling aggressively in the business sector, leveraging increased funding and pan-African digital infrastructure growth.
