Johannesburg – South African travel-focused fintech TurnStay has 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, such as TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures.
This funding will enable TurnStay to rapidly expand its presence in African markets and enhance its fintech solutions tailored for travel and tourism operators.
Established by fintech experts Alon Stern (formerly of Prodigy Finance) and James Hedley (co-founder of Quicket, acquired by Ticketmaster), TurnStay aims to tackle the systemic inefficiencies affecting Africa’s travel sector.
The platform addresses a critical challenge in African tourism: high transaction costs, failed international payments, and lengthy settlement durations that can harm margins and cash flow.
By utilizing a merchant-of-record model and payment orchestration, TurnStay processes card payments in the traveler’s country of origin, settling funds locally through stablecoins.
This approach can reduce 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,” asserts Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule, partner at First Circle Capital, a fintech-focused fund in Africa.
“By focusing on the travel and tourism segment, TurnStay can deliver an exceptional customer experience and build a strong, defensible position that sets it apart from general payment service providers.”
“With promising early progress, an exceptional founding team, and a huge untapped market, TurnStay is laying the groundwork 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 implement it without interrupting existing workflows.
By offering an alternative to global online travel agencies that often charge high commissions and influence cash flow, TurnStay encourages more direct bookings and improves unit economics for local operators.
This seed funding builds on a $300,000 pre-seed round in July 2024, led by DFS Lab and DCG.
TurnStay CEO Alon Stern stated: “This seed funding is a significant step forward in our mission to make global payment infrastructure accessible to African travel businesses.”
“Since our pre-seed round last year, we’ve processed over R250 million in transactions and formed partnerships with industry leaders.”
“This confirms our strategy and highlights the substantial value we provide to the industry.”
“We’re not just cutting costs – we’re empowering African travel companies to compete on equal footing with international platforms.”
As tourism in emerging markets steadily increases and Africa sees a rise in international travel, the need for improved fintech infrastructure is apparent.
TurnStay is actively developing tools to meet that demand.
The funding arrives as TurnStay experiences growing revenue, having formed important partnerships within the industry.
“The combination of lower payment processing fees and faster settlement times offers a compelling value proposition for our clients,” notes co-founder and COO James Hedley.
“While traditional African payment processing can exceed 7% per transaction, our solution consistently provides savings of up to 70% while enhancing the overall booking experience for international travelers.”
The travel and tourism sector remains a vital economic driver in Africa, employing over six million people and generating more than 100 billion USD annually.
Nonetheless, high payment processing costs have historically limited African operators in competing with international booking platforms.
TurnStay’s infrastructure addresses this by providing access to the same cost-effective payment processing enjoyed by global travel leaders like Booking.com.
With this latest funding, TurnStay plans to expand its client base across key African markets and further advance its payment technology to meet the rising demand for seamless, cost-efficient international payment solutions in the travel industry.
