SA Travel Fintech TurnStay has Raised $2M to Expand More in African Markets

South African travel fintech TurnStay has raised $2m to expand more in African markets and make paying for travel easier and cheaper for businesses across the continent. This new funding comes after an earlier $300,000 raised in July 2024, showing strong interest in TurnStay’s smart payment solutions.

TurnStay was created by Alon Stern, who co-founded Slide Financial, and James Hedley, co-founder of Quicket. They wanted to solve a big problem for African travel businesses: getting paid can be expensive and slow because of high fees and complicated international payments. TurnStay has raised $2 million to fix this by using clever technology similar to what the biggest travel booking companies use worldwide.

Here’s how it works: TurnStay processes card payments in the traveler’s own country but settles the money locally using stablecoins, a type of digital money that’s more stable than others. This method cuts payment fees by up to 70% and lets travel businesses get their money faster. It also helps travel companies get more bookings because the payment process is smoother for customers.

SA Travel Fintech TurnStay has Raised $2M

This is a big deal because many African travel businesses lose money on fees or wait a long time for payments. That makes it harder for them to compete with big international platforms. By acting as the merchant of record and organizing payments smartly, TurnStay helps local businesses keep more of their earnings and offer an easy booking experience.

TurnStay has raised $2m in a seed funding round led by First Circle Capital. Other investors joining include well-known firms from both Africa and the US like TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures. This money will help TurnStay grow in more African countries and improve its payment tools specially made for travel and tourism businesses.

Alon Stern, TurnStay’s CEO, said this $2 million funding is a huge step towards making global payment systems easy for African travel companies. Since their early funding, TurnStay has handled transactions worth over 250 million South African Rand and built important partnerships in the travel industry. Stern explained that TurnStay is not just about lowering costs, it’s about helping African travel companies compete fairly on a global level.

Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule from First Circle Capital praised TurnStay, saying the company is changing travel bookings in Africa by focusing on travel and tourism, unlike general payment providers. With their strong start, great team, and a big untapped market, TurnStay is setting the stage for a new generation of cross-border travel payments in Africa.

Before this big $2 million raise, TurnStay had secured $300,000 which helped them start expanding and reduce costs and payment failures for clients significantly.

South African travel fintech TurnStay has raised $2 million to help travel businesses across Africa get paid faster and cheaper. This will help local travel companies compete better against big international travel websites by making payments simpler and less expensive. TurnStay’s new funding marks a key moment in improving how Africa’s travel payment systems work, making it easier for people and businesses to enjoy and provide travel services on the continent.

Was this information useful? Drop a nice comment below. You can also check out other useful contents by following us on X/Twitter @siliconafritech, Instagram @Siliconafricatech, or Facebook @SiliconAfrica.