Stitch, a South Africa API fintech startup, has announced that it has raised a $2 million seed extension and expanded into Nigeria with the appointment of Benjamin Dada as country manager. This brings its total seed funding to $6 million.
The funding came from existing backers Raba, Firstminute Capital, CRE, Village Global, 500 Fintech, Future Africa, and Norrsken. Others who are new investors include Tom Blomfield, Co-Founder of Monzo; Matt Robinson, Co-Founder of GoCardless; Emilie Choi, President & COO of Coinbase; and Charlie Delingpole, Founder of ComplyAdvantage.
The seed extension will allow Stitch to accelerate development, launch their solution and continue to grow the Nigerian team, as they prepare to expand further across the continent.
Stitch will initially offer a seamless, tokenized pay-by-bank product to help businesses and fintechs in Nigeria improve their user experience, eliminate fraud and reduce fees associated with other payment methods.
Founded in 2019 by Kiaan Pillay, Natalie Cuthbert, and Priyen Pillay, Stitch provides full API access to financial accounts. Stitch Money allows users to share their transaction history and balances, confirm their identities, and initiate payments. It has been in stealth mode since then and was officially launched in February 2021. Since then, the startup has grown in data volume by 40-50% month-on-month.
“Our goal is to become the go-to partner for any businesses building financial products in Africa. Access to the infrastructure Stitch is building can better enable these businesses to develop increasingly innovative solutions. They can now move money and access critical customer account data, while saving on costs, in hours rather than months,” said Stitch co-founder & CEO, Kiaan Pillay.
“We’re super excited to be launching in Nigeria today, with support from some of the most incredible fintech founders and operators globally. Nigeria is one of the most active markets on the continent, if not the world, for fintech. The opportunity we see here is endless.”
While the option to pay via bank transfer exists in Nigeria today, customers paying via their mobile or internet banking app must re-navigate to their bank platform to complete a transaction, resulting in a diminished user experience and significant dropoff. With Stitch, users can initiate once-off, recurring, and user-not-present bank transfers without leaving the fintech product’s existing flow – and without the overhead and high costs of a standing or debit order.
“Stitch is playing a critical role in building the infrastructure that can enable exponential growth for companies looking to scale digital finance solutions in Africa,” said Tom Blomfield, Co-founder of Monzo and GoCardless and an investor participating in Stitch’s seed extension.
“I see a lot of potential in African markets, where the wave of digital finance innovation is really beginning to gain momentum, and the Stitch team is getting in at precisely the right time. The team is one of the best I’ve seen globally, and I’m excited to see them continue to grow in Nigeria and beyond.”
