SA’s TurnStay Raises USD 2 M Seed To Transform Africa’s Travel Payments

South African travel-focused fintech TurnStay has raised USD 2 M in seed funding to expand its payment infrastructure for Africa’s tourism sector. The round was led by First Circle Capital with participation from TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures.

Founded by fintech veterans Alon Stern (ex-Prodigy Finance) and James Hedley (co-founder of Quicket, acquired by Ticketmaster), TurnStay tackles the high costs and inefficiencies of cross-border travel payments.

Its merchant-of-record model uses stablecoin-based payouts to process payments in a traveller’s home country while settling funds locally, cutting fees by up to 70% and speeding up settlements.

Since its USD 300 K pre-seed in 2024, TurnStay has processed over ZAR 250 M in transactions and secured key industry partnerships. With this new funding, the startup plans to scale across Africa, offering travel operators an alternative to global booking platforms while boosting margins and enabling direct bookings.