Last month, Stitch and The Raba Partnership team invited investors from across the globe, and founders from across the continent, to South Africa for our first global fintech meetup – launching inspiring conversations and connections that we hope will fuel even more innovation in Africa’s fintech space.

At Stitch, we know firsthand how difficult it is to launch and scale fintech products on the continent. Startups need access to critical infrastructure, as well as funding and support, in order to grow. A part of the meetup, we launched an early-stage fintech startup showcase to help some innovators on the continent access the capital, advice, and product support they need to keep building and growing the solution of their dreams.

Ten founders from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya – working on solutions from banking platforms, to personal finance, to blockchain innovation – joined us to share more about what they’re building with our guests. The startups were selected from a list of 100 applicants, by third party judges. Over 100 people joined us for the showcase, and many connected with the founders throughout the day.

Companies that presented include:

• Sava (Kenya)
  A modern banking platform that offers businesses in Africa the tools and credit they need
• Abela (South Africa)
  A mobile payments platform that enables anyone in South Africa to digitally send, receive, use and save money
• Get Equity (Nigeria)
  A platform that connects startups raising funds with interested investors, with a goal of democratising investment 
• Bettr (South Africa)
  A marketplace and digital banking platform built specifically for Africa’s creative industry
• Alvin (Kenya)
  A personal finance app that helps people balance their spending around their financial goals
• Paybox (Ghana)
  An integrated platform enabling SMEs to receive and send payments, manage cash flow and access credit
• Munch (South Africa)
  Helping restaurants in South Africa manage online ordering, payments, point-of-sale, and loyalty in one integrated solution.
• Feather (Nigeria)
  A payments service that decentralizes agency banking by pairing those who need cash with those who need reach
• Zuberi (Ghana)
  A financial control centre that helps African workers improve their financial wellness, starting with the ability to view and access their earnings in real time
• Hashgreed (Nigeria)
  Africa’s first NFT marketplace for creative, commerce and asset tokenization

Thanks as well to our partners Paystack and Smile Identity, participants received:

• Pitch support from members of the Stitch team
• Office hours with members of the Stitch team
• A 1-hour workshop with members of the Paystack team focused on fundraising and growth
• Free payment processing from Paystack 
• 6 months of free access to the Stitch API 
• 6 months of free access to Smile Identity

See more in our video here:

We look forward to more events like this in the near future!