South African API fintech startup Stitch, in partnership with Paystack and Disrupt Africa, is hosting a “startup showcase” to provide an opportunity for early-stage fintechs from across the continent to share their solutions with local and global investors, and access support.
The Stitch API, live in South Africa and Nigeria, allows developers to connect to their users’ financial accounts within minutes, so they can verify identity, view transaction and balance data, and enable instant, fraud-free bank payment.
This infrastructure allows companies to more easily innovate, launch and scale financial products and services – including personal finance, lending, insurance, payments, e-commerce, and wealth management solutions – and more. Stitch also enables fintechs to work with traditional financial institutions in a safer and more compliant way.
The startup extended its seed round to US$6 million in October, and now wants to do its bit to help other fintech companies raise capital and grow their businesses. Stitch is hosting a meetup for global fintech investors looking to learn more about the space in Cape Town at the end of February, and wants to highlight high-growth, early-stage startups from across Africa.
Applications to the showcase, for which Stitch has partnered with Paystack and Disrupt Africa, are open to early-stage (pre-Series A) fintech or embedded finance companies from Anglophone African markets – South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
Participants will be selected by an independent panel. They will get the opportunity to pitch their business to global and local fintech investors and founders in Cape Town during the fintech meetup, receive pitch support from the Stitch team, access office hours with members of the Stitch team, based on needs. Selected startups operating in Nigeria and South Africa will also be offered six months of free access to the Stitch API, and all that apply will receive two months free.
Also up for grabs is a one-hour workshop with members of the Paystack team focused on fundraising and growth, while Nigerian, South African and Ghanaian startups will receive free payment processing from Paystack. Selected startups will also be featured in post-event coverage on Disrupt Africa.
The startup said its mission was to make it easier for fintech businesses on the continent to launch and scale innovative solutions, and that the showcase was one way of leveraging its network and resources to continue to move the needle on that mission.
“There are so many amazing and innovative financial solutions launching across the continent all the time. At Stitch, our team knows firsthand how hard it can be to build and scale these products – and to access the funding, support and tools that can help. We’re fortunate to be supported by some of the best fintech investors, founders and builders in the world, some of whom will be coming together in Cape Town in February. We’ve launched this showcase to provide an opportunity for businesses from across the continent to share their solutions with those investors, and to access support from both our team and our partner, Paystack,” said Thea Sokolowski, head of marketing and communications at Stitch.
Applications are open here until 11:59pm SAST on February 10. The showcase will take place in Cape Town on February 25.
