SA travel startup TurnStay raises R34m to expand across Africa

Turnstay founders Alon Stern and James Hedley | image supplied

Tackling cross-border payment inefficiencies

TurnStay helps African travel operators overcome common barriers like high card fees, failed international payments and long settlement delays.

The platform uses a merchant-of-record model and stablecoin settlement to reduce costs and speed up payments. TurnStay says this can lower transaction fees by up to 70% and improve booking conversion rates.

Founded by fintech operators Alon Stern (formerly Prodigy Finance) and James Hedley (Quicket co-founder), the Cape Town-based startup integrates with popular booking and property management systems.

"This funding represents a major milestone in our mission to make global payment infrastructure accessible to African travel businesses," said Stern.

Growth plans

TurnStay plans to use the funding to expand into key African markets and further develop its payments infrastructure for the travel sector. Tourism supports more than six million jobs in Africa and generates over R1.8tn annually, but high payment costs continue to constrain growth for local operators.

The startup aims to offer a more competitive alternative to traditional payment providers and global booking platforms by giving African businesses access to the same fintech tools used by international players.

Local operators gain more control

TurnStay’s model allows local travel businesses to settle in rands while accepting payments from international customers. It also enables more direct bookings by bypassing global online travel agents, which typically charge high commissions.

"Our solution consistently delivers cost savings while improving the booking experience for international travellers," said COO James Hedley.

The company says it has processed over R250m in transactions since raising R5.7m in a pre-seed round last year. It has also secured partnerships with several industry players.