By Jennete Ugo Anya
NjiaPay, a South African payment management and routing startup, has raised $2.1 million in seed financing to expand its operations across African markets.
The round was led by European venture capital firm Newion and follows an earlier $1 million capital raise completed in January 2025.
Founded in 2024, the company develops payment orchestration software that allows online merchants to connect multiple payment providers through a single integration. The platform automatically routes transactions through payment partners most likely to succeed and consolidates payment data across markets.
Jonatan Allback, Chief Executive Officer of NjiaPay, said that the investment will support the company’s next stage of expansion.
“We are grateful for Newion’s trust and partnership. Their experience in scaling B2B software businesses will support our next phase of growth,” Allback said.
Mathijs de Wit, Managing Partner at Newion, said that fragmented payment systems across African markets remain a major operational challenge for digital merchants.
“Payments across Africa remain fragmented and complex for merchants,” de Wit said.
DECISION HIGHLIGHT
The seed financing positions NjiaPay to expand its payment orchestration platform into additional African markets.
The company’s software allows businesses to integrate multiple payment channels including cards, mobile money and bank transfers through a single system.
The technology routes transactions across payment providers to improve approval rates while providing unified data visibility for merchants.
DECISION MEMO
NjiaPay’s funding reflects a broader shift in African fintech investment away from consumer-facing applications toward infrastructure platforms that support digital commerce.
While Africa’s fintech sector has historically focused on mobile payments and digital wallets, the rapid expansion of online businesses has created operational complexity for merchants managing multiple payment providers.
Many companies operating across African markets integrate several payment gateways to maximise transaction success rates. However, this fragmented architecture often creates operational inefficiencies, failed payments and reconciliation challenges.
NjiaPay attempts to solve that problem by functioning as an orchestration layer between merchants and payment providers.
The concept mirrors infrastructure models that have gained traction in more mature fintech ecosystems where payment orchestration platforms optimise routing and reduce transaction failure rates.
NjiaPay itself emerged from this operational problem. The technology was originally developed within Talk360, an international calling application whose founders encountered difficulty managing payment integrations across multiple countries.
After developing an internal solution, the founders converted the system into a standalone company.
Hans Osnabrugge, Chief Executive Officer of Talk360, said that the platform simplified the company’s payment infrastructure.
“NjiaPay has allowed us to focus on growth instead of managing payment providers,” Osnabrugge said.
The investment also highlights the continuing dominance of South Africa within the continent’s venture capital ecosystem.
South African fintech startups attracted roughly 70 percent of the country’s total startup funding in 2024, reinforcing the sector’s role as a gateway for technology investment across Africa.
DATA BOX
Latest funding round: $2.1 million
Previous funding (January 2025): $1 million
Founded: 2024
South Africa fintech share of national startup funding (2024): about 70 percent
Example merchant impact
Payment integrations reduced: from six to one
Checkout conversion improvement: about 25 percent
WHO WINS / WHO LOSES
Digital merchants operating across multiple African markets stand to benefit from simplified payment infrastructure and improved transaction success rates.
Payment providers may gain increased transaction volumes through routing optimisation.
However, smaller payment processors could face reduced visibility if orchestration platforms concentrate transaction flows among higher-performing providers.
POLICY SIGNALS
The investment reflects a broader maturation of Africa’s fintech ecosystem where infrastructure solutions are emerging to address operational inefficiencies in digital commerce.
It also underscores the role of South Africa as a regional hub for fintech innovation and venture capital deployment.
INVESTOR SIGNAL
Investors appear increasingly interested in infrastructure-layer fintech platforms capable of serving multiple markets rather than single-country consumer applications.
Payment orchestration platforms may become an important enabling technology as cross-border e-commerce expands within Africa.
RISK RADAR
Payment infrastructure startups face competitive pressure from global fintech providers and established payment gateways.
Regulatory fragmentation across African financial systems may also complicate expansion strategies.
Success will depend on whether the platform can achieve sufficient merchant scale to justify its orchestration model across diverse payment ecosystems.
Discover more from StakeBridge Media
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.