Apis acquires majority stake in paytech Tutuka
Apis Partners has acquired a majority stake in South African paytech, Tutuka.
Apis (as manager of Apis Growth Fund II), acquired their stake from Paycorp, who invested in Tutuka in 2015, and helped the company grow their international presence and more than triple in size since their initial investment.
Tutuka is well known for its unique processor plus model which enables fintechs, mobile wallets, apps and banks across emerging markets to easily issue Mastercard and Visa payment products, such as physical or virtual cards that are linked to the values in their customers’ wallets or accounts. 
In 2019, Tutuka has launched programmes with clients such as Octopus in Hong Kong, Grab in Asia, MTN in Africa as well as other programmes in the Middle East and Latin America.
Apis was attracted to Tutuka’s strong presence across 19 emerging markets, as well as its client base of telcos and wallets that are the fastest growing financial service players in those markets.
Matteo Stefanel, Apis Partners’ managing partner and co-founder, highlights that the mobile wallet ecosystem is forecast to grow at over 45% p.a. through to 2021, “and we believe that Tutuka is extremely well positioned to capitalise on this growth while delivering significant value for these ecosystem owners.”
“We are proud to have Apis as investors,” said Rowan Brewer, CEO of Tutuka. “Emerging markets is where the growth and innovation in financial services is happening and Apis will add to Tutuka’s ability to enable fintechs, mobile wallets, apps and banks to easily issue Mastercard and Visa cards and payment products to their customers.
Often this is the very first time these customers are able to access the millions of point of sale (POS) terminals, ATMS and e-commerce sites that accept Mastercard and Visa. That is true financial inclusion, it’s where the fastest growth will be in the future, and that is why as part of this deal, management and staff have kept a substantial stake in Tutuka.”
