South African fintech company Float has raised R46 million ($2.6 million) in a funding round, highlighting Africa’s rising prominence in the global financial technology sector. The round, co-led by Invenfin and Saad Investment Holdings, with support from Platform Investment Partners and Lighthouse Venture Partners, reflects strong investor confidence in South Africa’s fintech ecosystem and its potential to deliver world-class payment solutions. Founded in 2021, Float has developed a card-linked installment platform that provides accessible credit solutions within existing banking infrastructure while promoting responsible financial behavior among consumers.
The platform has processed thousands of transactions monthly across over 2,000 partner stores, helping merchants achieve average order values of around R10,000 and driving sales increases of more than 130% per transaction. Float enables consumers to split purchases into interest-free and fee-free installments using their existing credit cards, addressing a critical gap in the South African payments market and demonstrating how local fintech companies create solutions tailored to regional needs.
Float’s partnerships with leading South African payment processors Peach Payments and Adumo allow seamless omni-channel processing, spanning online, in-store, and payment link transactions. The company has also established a strong retail network including iStore, Samsung, The Pro Shop, CycleLab, Dial-a-Bed, Cape Union Mart, and MiFitness, showing its broad appeal across multiple retail sectors and its capacity to serve both local and international brands.
Investors have praised Float for its innovative approach, with Invenfin noting the platform’s differentiated proposition and focus on responsible credit usage, while Saad Investment Holdings highlighted the quality of South African entrepreneurship behind the company. The fintech firm had previously secured an R200 million ($11 million) facility from Standard Bank in 2023, demonstrating further confidence from established financial institutions in supporting growth and innovation.
With its strong growth trajectory and triple-digit expansion, Float is positioning itself for regional expansion, leveraging South Africa’s sophisticated financial market experience to serve other African economies. The company’s success underscores South Africa’s emergence as a global fintech hub and Africa’s broader technological innovation, showing that the continent is not only adopting global solutions but creating advanced financial technologies with potential global applicability.
This latest funding round arrives amid growing international attention and investment in African fintech, reinforcing the continent’s status as a hub of financial innovation and highlighting the entrepreneurial and technological talent driving Africa’s financial technology leadership.
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