TurnStay Secures $2M to Slash Africa’s Tourism Payment Fees with Stablecoins

908

TurnStay, a South African travel-focused financial technology company, has successfully closed a $2 million seed funding round to tackle persistent cross-border payment challenges within Africa’s tourism sector. 

According to Empower Africa, the investment is led by First Circle Capital. It is earmarked for expanding a novel payment solution that leverages stablecoins to drastically reduce transaction costs and settlement times for tour operators in key markets like South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.

Joining First Circle Capital in the funding round are prominent venture firms, including TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures, signalling strong investor confidence in TurnStay’s model.

For years, African tourism businesses have been hampered by the high fees and slow processing times of traditional international payment systems. These hurdles often lead to severe cash-flow constraints and make it difficult for local operators to compete with larger, global travel agencies.

TurnStay addresses this issue directly with an innovative platform built on a merchant-of-record and payment orchestration model. This allows an African tour operator to accept a credit card payment from a customer in London, for example, in British Pounds. 

TurnStay then processes the transaction and settles the funds with the local operator using a digital currency pegged to a stable asset, like the US Dollar. This method slashes transaction fees by up to 70% and ensures settlements occur in days, not weeks.

Startup Weekly reports that the company was co-founded by Alon Stern, a former executive at Prodigy Finance, and James Hedley, who previously co-founded the ticketing platform Quicket. Their platform is designed for seamless integration with the booking engines and property management systems that African tour operators already use, facilitating immediate adoption without disruptive operational changes.

This approach eliminates the need for businesses to open complex and costly foreign bank accounts to receive international payments. By simplifying the process, TurnStay empowers local operators to retain more of their revenue, improve their pricing flexibility, and enhance their overall profitability.

The effectiveness of TurnStay’s system is already evident. Since a pre-seed round of $300,000 in mid-2024, the platform has processed over R250 million in transaction volume. This new injection of capital will fuel the company’s expansion into some of the continent’s largest tourism economies, including Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt.

ALSO READ:

• Ireckonu Unlocks Hyper-Personalisation for Hotels with New AI-Powered Marketing Automation Suite
• South Africa Crowned World’s Top Wine Tourism Destination for 2025
• DirectBooker Disrupts Travel Booking with AI-Driven, OTA-Free Hotel Reservations

TurnStay’s $2 million funding round is poised to revolutionise tourism payments with stablecoin settlements, marking a significant development for the travel and tourism sectors in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. This infusion of capital is set to confront long-standing financial barriers directly, potentially unlocking substantial growth, enhancing the competitiveness of local businesses, and improving the overall health of the tourism ecosystem on the continent, with a particularly profound impact on Nigeria.

For years, the African tourism sector, a vital contributor to many national economies, has been hamstrung by inefficient and costly cross-border payment systems. The recent investment in TurnStay promises to address these critical pain points, heralding a new era of financial efficiency and transparency.

TurnStay’s model, which allows tourists to pay in their home currency while settling with local operators in a stablecoin (a digital currency pegged to a stable asset like the U.S. dollar), offers a direct solution. This approach is poised to have several transformative impacts.

For one, by potentially cutting transaction fees by up to 70%, TurnStay allows Nigerian tour operators to retain a significantly larger portion of their earnings. This retained revenue can be reinvested into the business, used to improve service quality, or passed on to consumers in the form of more competitive pricing.

 Also, replacing settlement periods of weeks with a matter of days provides businesses with predictable and reliable cash flow. This is crucial for managing daily operations, paying staff and suppliers on time, and planning for future growth without the uncertainty of waiting for funds to clear through traditional banking systems.

For Nigeria, which has faced significant currency fluctuations, the ability to settle in a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin is a considerable advantage. It shields businesses from the risk of their earnings devaluing between payment and settlement. This stability allows for better financial planning and protects profit margins.

TurnStay’s entry and expansion, powered by its new funding, could be a powerful catalyst for Nigeria’s tourism and travel sector. TurnStay’s initiative coincides with Nigeria’s progressive new stance on digital assets. In mid-2025, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rolled out a regulatory framework for stablecoins, signalling a shift from restriction to regulated adoption. This creates a supportive and legally clear environment for TurnStay to operate and scale, positioning Nigeria as a potential leader in blockchain-based financial solutions for tourism in Africa.

The majority of Nigeria’s tourism offerings—from local tour guides and boutique hotels to cultural experience providers—are SMEs. By providing them with access to a global market without the prohibitive costs, TurnStay levels the playing field, enabling them to compete more effectively with larger international players. This can foster a more diverse and authentic tourism landscape.

 A seamless, secure, and transparent payment process enhances the confidence of international travellers. Knowing that their payments are processed efficiently and that more of their money supports local businesses directly can be a significant factor in travel decisions. This aligns with the growing global trend of sustainable and experiential travel, where tourists are increasingly conscious of their economic impact.

 

Showcase Nigeria Through Your Lens – Join Our Open Call for Creators

Are you a photographer, videographer, or content creator passionate about capturing Nigeria’s beauty, from fashion runways and cultural festivals to tourist landmarks and local events? Our Open Call for Content Creators in Nigeria is your opportunity to get featured, collaborate, and bring authentic Nigerian stories to life. Whether you’re into travel, lifestyle, or visual storytelling, we want to see Nigeria through your eyes.

Explore the latest Africa tourism news and trends shaping travel across the continent.

 

FAQs

1. What is TurnStay, and what does it do?

TurnStay is a South African financial technology (fintech) company that provides a modern payment solution for the African tourism industry. It helps tour operators, hotels, and other travel businesses accept international payments from customers easily and receive their funds quickly and cheaply using stablecoins.

2. What specific problem does TurnStay solve for tour operators?

TurnStay solves the problem of high fees, slow settlement times, and cash-flow instability associated with traditional cross-border payment systems. African operators often lose significant revenue to bank fees and wait weeks to receive their money, which hurts their ability to operate and grow. TurnStay cuts these fees by up to 70% and ensures funds arrive much faster.

3. How does TurnStay’s technology work?

TurnStay acts as a “merchant-of-record.” This means when a tourist pays, they are technically paying TurnStay in their home currency (e.g., US Dollars, Euros). TurnStay then uses its system to settle the payment with the African tour operator in a stablecoin, which is a digital currency pegged to a stable asset like the dollar. This bypasses slow and expensive international banking networks.

4. How much funding did TurnStay raise, and who were the main investors?

TurnStay raised $2 million in its seed funding round. The round was led by First Circle Capital and included other investors like TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures.

5. In which African countries will TurnStay’s service be available?

TurnStay is initially focused on some of Africa’s largest tourism markets. The service is already established in South Africa and is expanding into Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt with the new funding.