Sylvia Duruson
Stitch, a South African fintech startup, has secured $25 million in an extension of its Series A funding round to expand its open banking payment solutions. The round was led by global fintech investor Ribbit Capital, with existing investors like PayPal Ventures also participating.
The Cape Town-based company offers an end-to-end payment platform empowering businesses to build and enhance financial products through API gateways. Open banking, which enables access to bank data through APIs, has transformed global payments.
Stitch’s latest capital injection brings its total Series A haul to $46 million. CEO Kiaan Pillay said the funding solidifies Stitch’s commitment to driving innovation in open banking and payments.
On leading the $25 million raise, Pillay acknowledged Stitch is entering a growth phase where demonstrating strong traction becomes critical, especially amid a venture capital slowdown. He emphasised that showing impressive growth numbers aligned with preexisting relationships was key to attracting Ribbit Capital and closing the round.
Pillay noted Ribbit’s familiarity with Stitch made hard metrics particularly significant for the global fintech investor leading the round. Stitch is on track to process over $2 billion in payments across 50 million transactions this year alone.
The company has grown from a quasi-data, quasi-bank-to-bank platform to a full payment service provider. It now enables accepting, managing, and reconciling payments across channels and geographies.
Stitch primarily serves enterprise clients like MTN, Multichoice, and Standard Bank in South Africa. But it also supports startups and small businesses in other African markets where it has licenses, like Nigeria.
According to Pillay, strong client demand for more products pushed Stitch into the multifaceted payment services space. The all-in-one solution appeals to global companies entering Africa through South Africa’s functional card system.
Stitch’s localised payment insights and alternative payment method support deliver value across Africa’s diverse landscape. Pillay said operating in this unexpectedly high-demand sphere has enabled accessible expansion.
The fintech asserts its direct bank and network integrations, lacking intermediaries, resulting in increased uptime, faster issue resolution, and enhanced reliability. The startup aims to simplify sending, receiving, and managing payments for enterprises.
With fresh capital and open banking industry tailwinds, Stitch is positioned to accelerate payment innovation beyond South Africa.
