South African Fintech Startup, Stitch Raises $2m Seed for Nigeria Expansion

South African API Fintech startup, Stitch, has raised an additional $2 million (USD) in seed funding to facilitate its expansion to Africa’s largest market, Nigeria. The firm had raised $4 million earlier this year, totaling $6 million raised within a year.

Some of the investors who participated in the latest rounds include Tom Blomfield, co-founder of Monzo, Matt Robinson, co-founder of GoCardless, Emilie Choi, president of Coinbase, and Charlie Delingpole, founder of ComplyAdvantage.

Repeat investors from the initial rounds also backed Stitch for the new fundraising. They are; Raba, Firstminute Capital, CRE, Village Global, 500 Fintech, Future Africa, and Norrsken.

Stitch’s Expansion to Nigeria

Africa’s API fintech space is barely scratched but there are early players who are major forces in the Nigerian market, the likes of Mono, Okra and OnePipe. In what seems to be an attempt to edge the competition, Stitch is giving Nigerian businesses free access to its service until year-end.

Founded by Kiaan Pillay, Natalie Cuthbert and Priyen Pillay, Stitch wants to deliver full API access to financial accounts all around Africa. The starting point is from its first market, South Africa. Developers can connect apps to financial accounts using its API. Users can share their transaction history and balances, validate their identities, and make payments using this feature.

With the seed extension, Stitch’s expansion to Nigeria will be accelerated as the firm’s Pan-African vision is gradually being actualized. 

In February 2021, the startup announced a US$4 million seed round. Stitch will launch its expansion to Nigeria with a seamless and tokenized pay-by-bank product. This is to assist businesses and fintech firms in improving their user experience. It will also eliminate fraud, and lower fees associated with alternative payment methods.

What They Have Said

“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 and 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.” 

According to Blomfield, one of the investors backing the startup, Stitch is building the infrastructure that will serve as a catalyst for exponential growth for fintech firms looking to scale digital finance solutions in Africa.

“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,” Pillay added. 

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Benjamin Dada, country manager, Stitch Nigeria also said; “They (customers) will not only be achieving cost savings by accepting account payments, but they can now earn a little more for each payment they accept via Stitch.”