Flutterwave employees can now borrow money against their vested shares without selling them, through a programme with Techdollar, a US private-credit startup. The loans give staff access to cash before a company sale or stock-market listing while allowing them to keep any future gains on their equity.

“I always say that our people are our secret sauce and the driving force behind our success at Flutterwave, and we believe they should share in the value they create without having to wait for a major liquidity event,” Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Flutterwave’s founder and CEO, said in a statement.

The arrangement offers an alternative to selling shares during a funding round or waiting years for an exit—historically two of the few ways startup employees in Africa have been able to turn equity into cash. Flutterwave, valued at $3.25 billion, said in April that it was not to an initial public offering (IPO).

Under the programme, Techdollar will lend against employees’ vested shares for six to 12 months, typically advancing less than half their value. If a borrower defaults, the lender can seize and sell the pledged shares. Employees keep their equity if they repay the loan but risk losing it if they do not.

Loan proceeds will be paid into accounts that employees open with Nuvion, a Miami-based digital bank for businesses that already powers Flutterwave’s stablecoin products, giving the programme a payout channel that runs on the same rails as the company’s existing payments infrastructure.

A persistent liquidity gap

For employees of African startups, equity can represent a significant share of their compensation while offering no way to meet immediate expenses. Companies rarely sell or list, leaving staff waiting for a liquidity event that may take years or never happen.

In 2025, Moniepoint and Arnergy allowed employees to sell part of their equity while the companies were raising money. In both cases, employees sold shares at a discount to the price new investors paid. Selling at a discount meant giving up future gains for immediate cash; borrowing instead keeps the shares in employees’ hands, in exchange for a loan secured by those same shares.

A report by Stears and Ventures Platform found that a recent rise in African exits came as much from a 33% fall in funding as from a 36% rise in exits, and that fund managers held their stakes for an average of 6.2 years before exiting. The same report counted 181 verified VC-backed exits across the continent between 2011 and 2026, underscoring how rare exits remain.

How the loans work

Techdollar lends to employees, founders, and investors at private companies, using their shares as collateral. The company says it prices loans using live secondary-market data, though few African startups have shares that trade often enough to produce it. It verifies ownership through audits and pays out within 24 to 48 hours.

Loans run for a fixed six to 12 months and are secured by vested shares. Techdollar typically lends less than half the value of the pledged equity. Interest runs from 0.80% to 1.5% per month—9.6% to 18% a year in simple terms—with an average starting rate of 16%.

Employees keep any gain if Flutterwave’s valuation rises, and they could lose the pledged shares if it falls. If the shares lose value during the loan, borrowers get a window to add cash. According to Techdollar’s terms of service, pledged shares can face margin calls, forced sale, or seizure on default, and borrowers “may lose some or all of their pledged equity.” Shares change hands only after a qualifying default.

“Traditional lenders have historically catered to founders and executives with substantial equity holdings, while employees with millions of dollars in private-company shares are often left with limited options,” said David Tollemache, Techdollar’s co-founder.

Founded in 2016, Flutterwave lets businesses collect and send payments across 34 African countries. In June, it raised a Series E at a $3.25 billion valuation, with an undisclosed investment from Ripple, the US blockchain payments company. That valuation was slightly above the $3 billion it reached in February 2022 after a $250 million Series D led by B Capital.

Also in June, Flutterwave promoted more than 100 employees, about 25% of its global workforce. It made a one-time economic relief payment to all staff and added tax support and cost-of-living adjustments for employees in Nigeria. The Techdollar programme adds to that recent run of staff-facing measures, reaching the piece of compensation that has been hardest to convert into cash: equity.