Littlefish Raises $9.5 Million to Expand Merchant Infrastructure for African Banks

South African fintech Littlefish plans to deepen existing banking partnerships and expand into more than 10 additional African markets.

South African fintech startup Littlefish has raised US$9.5 million in Series A funding to expand its merchant infrastructure platform for African banks. The round was led by Partech, with participation from TLcom Capital, Flourish Ventures, and Proparco.

Building Merchant Services Through Banks

Littlefish, founded in 2021, by Brandon Roberts and Miod Davith Kahwa, and based in Johannesburg, positions itself as a merchant operating system that helps financial institutions better serve small and mid-sized businesses. Its platform combines point-of-sale applications, back-office CRMs, merchant portals, payments, and APIs into a unified orchestration layer that integrates directly into POS devices and core banking systems. The company says this model allows banks to deliver digital-first merchant services at scale while retaining control of customer relationships.

Focus on Small Business Infrastructure

The company’s strategy is aimed at improving how banks serve merchants and SMEs. “This raise is a validation of our belief that the best way to serve Africa’s small businesses is to work with the institutions they already trust, not around them,” said Brandon Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Littlefish. “We’ve proven the model in South Africa, and this capital gives us the runway to deepen those relationships and bring what we’ve built to millions more merchants across the continent. The little guys deserve world-class financial infrastructure, too, and we’re building it.”

Expansion Beyond South Africa

The new capital will be used to grow the team, accelerate product development, and scale go-to-market operations. Littlefish plans to deepen its relationships with existing banking clients and merchants in South Africa while expanding into more than 10 additional African markets, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

The company is already serving tier 1 financial institutions, including Standard Bank, First National Bank and Absa, and also has a partnership with Visa. Disrupt Africa reported that Littlefish’s monthly recurring revenue has grown 30x since its seed round.

Investor Backing for Infrastructure Growth

Investors said the company is addressing a significant infrastructure need in African financial services. Matthieu Marchand, principal at Partech, said littlefish had done something rare. “It has built indispensable infrastructure and convinced Africa’s most powerful financial institutions to stake their merchant businesses on it,” he said. “With the deep trust Littlefish has already established in South Africa and a clear path to expansion across more than 10 markets, we believe the company is positioned to become the defining merchant infrastructure layer for the continent. We’re proud to lead this round and support the team as they scale.”

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