South African Fintech Revio Raises $5.2 Million to Enhance Business Payment Success

In Africa, digital payments account for less than 10% of all transactions, presenting a significant opportunity for financial institutions on the continent. McKinsey predicts that revenue in the electronic payments sector will see annual growth of 20%, reaching $40 billion by 2025.

Despite this potential, many businesses continue to struggle with payments. Payment orchestration startups like Revio aim to simplify the process by offering businesses an API for seamless payment collection.

Revio, a three-year-old startup, has successfully secured $5.2 million in seed funding, with the primary investment coming from QED Investors. This marks QED’s third investment in an African startup, following Moniepoint and Remedial Health. The funding round also saw participation from Speedinvest, Ralicap, Everywhere VC, and Partech.

QED’s previous investments in Moniepoint and Remedial Health were growth-stage investments. However, this investment in Revio, which is at an earlier stage, represents a departure from their usual approach. Ruaan Botha, Revio’s CEO, hopes this move will encourage other investors to participate in early-stage investing in the region.

Revio offers businesses access to more than 70 payment options, allowing customers to choose the most convenient method for them. Additionally, it provides a revenue recovery tool, enabling users to reduce payment failures. Companies can re-engage users through WhatsApp, email, or SMS to recover payments.

Currently operating in 25 African countries, Revio serves 50 clients, including prominent institutions such as Standard Bank, Flutterwave, Old Mutual, Innovation Group, and Alpha Direct. While the startup has achieved 1000% revenue growth in the past year, it has slightly adjusted its target market.

“We’re now focusing on high-value clients with complex payment needs. We’ve transitioned from product-led onboarding to excelling in enterprise sales. These are typically companies operating across multiple African markets or businesses with recurring revenue that face unique challenges in payment tokenization and tackling high failure rates. They are the ones benefiting most from Revio’s services,” explained Nicole Dunn, Co-Founder and COO of Revio.