$21 M Series A received by SA fintech startup Stitch for product, geographic expansion
Stitch, a South African API finance firm, has acquired a $21 million Series A fundraising round to grow its staff, create new product offerings, and expand into new countries throughout Africa.
The Stitch API enables developers to quickly link apps to bank accounts, allowing users to exchange transaction histories and balances, validate their identities, and make payments.
Companies may use these tools to develop new and enhanced services in areas including personal finance, lending, insurance, payments, and asset management. Fintechs may also use Stitch to collaborate with traditional financial institutions in a more secure and regulated manner.
In February of last year, the business launched a US $4 million seed investment, which was then increased to US $6 million in October, when it also expanded to Nigeria. It has now moved quickly to Series A, raising US $21 million in a round led by The Spruce House Partnership, with participation from PayPal Ventures, TrueLayer, firstminute capital, The Raba Partnership, CRE Venture Capital, Village Global, Zinal Growth, and others, including Chipper Cash, Quovo, and Unit founders.
The money will be used to grow the Stitch team, develop new product lines, and expand into new areas throughout the continent.
“We are incredibly fortunate to be supported by some of the best investors, founders and builders in the fintech space globally,” said Stitch co-founder and CEO Kiaan Pillay.
“They are working closely with us to enable the boom we’re seeing in financial technology on the continent. Across the hundreds of customers, we work with, big and small, we’re witnessing a record pace of development of new financial products. Our goal is to help fast-growing fintech and embedded finance companies more easily launch increasingly innovative and tailored products, expand into new markets and optimise their solutions – so they can grow even faster.”
The Spruce House Partnership’s co-founder, Ben Stein, expressed his excitement to be a part of Stitch’s future.
“We have been following startups in Africa for many years. Our diligence was very clear that this is one of the most talented teams on the continent,” he said.
Stitch is establishing crucial infrastructure to allow quicker, simpler, and more secure payments across Africa, according to Ashish Aggarwal, director of PayPal Ventures.
“We believe they will play a significant role in contributing to the overall growth of the fintech space in Africa – and are excited to be investing at this important moment in their journey,” he said.
