South African travel-focused fintech TurnStay has raised $2 million (over R34 million) in a seed round led by First Circle Capital, with participation from leading US and African VCs including TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures.
The round will fuel TurnStay’s rapid expansion across African markets and enhance its fintech infrastructure for travel and tourism operators. Founded by fintech tech veterans Alon Stern (ex-Prodigy Finance) and James Hedley (co-founder of Quicket, acquired by Ticketmaster), TurnStay is tackling the systemic inefficiencies in Africa’s travel space.
TurnStay addresses a structural challenge in African tourism: high transaction costs, failed international payments, and delays in settlement that impact margins and cash flow. Through a merchant-of-record model combined with payment orchestration, TurnStay processes card payments in the traveller’s home country and settles funds locally, utilising stablecoins. This approach lowers payment fees by up to 70%, shortens settlement times, and improves booking conversion rates.
“TurnStay is redefining travel bookings for Africa and other emerging markets. Focusing on the travel and tourism segment, TurnStay can deliver a superior customer experience and build a sticky, defensible moat that sets it apart from generalist payment providers. With strong early traction, an exceptional founding team, and a massive untapped market, TurnStay is laying the foundation for the next generation of cross-border travel infrastructure,” says Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule, partner at First Circle Capital, an Africa-based early stage fintech specialist fund.
The platform integrates with leading booking engines and property management systems, making it easy for travel operators to adopt without disrupting existing workflows. By offering an alternative to global online travel agencies, which often charge high commissions and control cash flow, TurnStay enables more direct bookings and better unit economics for local operators.
This seed round follows a $300,000 pre-seed in July 2024, by DFS Lab and DCG, TurnStay CEO, Alon Stern: “This seed funding represents a major milestone 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 secured partnerships with industry leaders. This validates our approach and demonstrates the substantial value we create for the industry. We’re not just reducing costs – we’re enabling African travel companies to compete on a level playing field with international platforms.”
With tourism to emerging markets growing steadily, and Africa seeing increased international travel, there is a clear demand for more efficient fintech infrastructure. TurnStay is building tools to meet that need.
The funding comes as TurnStay revenue growth accelerates and the company secures significant partnerships with industry leaders.
“The combination of reduced payment processing fees and faster settlement times creates a compelling value proposition for our clients,” explains co-founder and COO James Hedley. “While traditional African payment processing can cost over 7% per transaction, our solution consistently delivers savings of up to 70% while improving the overall booking experience for international travellers.“
The travel and tourism industry remains a critical economic driver across Africa, employing over six million people and processing over 100 billion USD every year. However, high payment processing costs have historically disadvantaged African operators when competing with international booking platforms. TurnStay’s infrastructure addresses this by providing access to the same cost-efficient payment processing that global travel giants like Booking.com enjoy.
With this latest funding, TurnStay plans to expand its client base across key African markets and continue developing its payments technology to serve the growing demand for seamless, cost-effective international payment solutions in the travel sector.
