South African Travel Fintech TurnStay Raises $2 Million for African Expansion

Johannesburg – South African fintech focused on travel, TurnStay, has successfully raised U.S. $2 million (over R34 million) in a seed funding round led by First Circle Capital, with support from notable U.S. and African venture capital firms including TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures.

This funding will facilitate TurnStay’s rapid growth across African markets and bolster its fintech capabilities for travel and tourism operators.

Established by fintech experts Alon Stern (previously at Prodigy Finance) and James Hedley (co-founder of Quicket, acquired by Ticketmaster), TurnStay aims to resolve the pervasive inefficiencies affecting Africa’s travel industry.

Addressing a key issue in African tourism, TurnStay focuses on high transaction costs, failed international payments, and lengthy settlement periods that negatively impact margins and cash flow.

Using a merchant-of-record model coupled with payment orchestration, TurnStay processes card payments in the traveler’s home country and settles funds locally via stablecoins.

This approach can cut payment fees by up to 70%, speed up settlement times, and improve booking conversion rates.

“TurnStay is revolutionizing travel bookings for Africa and emerging markets,” says Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule, partner at First Circle Capital, a fintech-focused fund based in Africa.

“By targeting the travel and tourism industry, TurnStay can deliver an unparalleled customer experience and create a strong, defensible position that sets it apart from generic payment providers.”

“With encouraging early progress, an exceptional founding team, and a vast untapped market, TurnStay is laying the foundation for the next generation of cross-border travel infrastructure,”

The platform integrates seamlessly with leading booking engines and property management systems, enabling travel operators to adopt it without interrupting existing workflows.

By providing an alternative to global online travel agencies, which often impose hefty commissions and strain cash flow, TurnStay promotes more direct bookings and improves unit economics for local operators.

This seed funding follows a pre-seed round of $300,000 in July 2024, led by DFS Lab and DCG.

TurnStay CEO Alon Stern noted: “This seed funding signals a crucial milestone in our quest to render global payment infrastructure accessible to African travel businesses.”

“Since our pre-seed round last year, we’ve facilitated over R250 million in transactions and formed partnerships with industry leaders.”

“This validates our strategic direction and underscores the considerable value we bring to the sector.”

“We’re not just reducing costs – we’re empowering African travel companies to compete on an equal footing with international platforms.”

As tourism in emerging markets continues to flourish and Africa sees a surge in international travel, the necessity for improved fintech infrastructure becomes evident.

TurnStay is creating tools to meet that demand.

The funding coincides with TurnStay’s accelerating revenue growth, as the company establishes significant partnerships within the industry.

“The combination of lower payment processing fees and quicker settlement times provides a compelling value proposition for our clients,” asserts co-founder and COO James Hedley.

“While traditional African payment processing can surpass 7% per transaction, our solution reliably offers savings of up to 70% while enhancing the total booking experience for travelers.”

The travel and tourism sector remains a critical economic driver in Africa, employing over six million people and generating more than 100 billion USD annually.

However, high payment processing costs have historically impeded African operators from competing with international booking platforms.

TurnStay’s infrastructure addresses this by granting access to the same affordable payment processing enjoyed by global travel giants like Booking.com.

With this recent funding, TurnStay plans to expand its client base across key African markets and further enhance its payment technology to meet the growing demand for seamless, cost-efficient international payment solutions in the travel sector.