Fusepay, a fintech startup founded in Seychelles and focused on developing specialized payment solutions for frontier markets, has officially launched its proprietary digital payment platform. This platform is designed to help businesses, including retailers, wholesalers, and billers, streamline their financial operations and facilitate a transition away from outdated, slow, and paper-based transaction processes. The launch is a direct response to the Seychelles’ business ecosystem’s heavy reliance on manual processes and paper cheques, which historically slow cash flow, introduce operational inefficiencies, and increase susceptibility to fraud. This initiative aligns strategically with the Central Bank of Seychelles’ overarching push toward fully digital financial systems as part of its national digital governance strategy.
The company secured an initial pre-seed funding round of $350,000 in August, led by Hustle Fund, with key participation from Everywhere Ventures, First Check Ventures, Startup Istanbul, and angel investor Ryan Nesbitt. This strong early backing highlights investor confidence in Fusepay’s core mission to digitize payments in traditionally underserved island economies. Fusepay operates under a valid Payment Service Provider (PSP) license and has received full approval from the Central Bank of Seychelles.
Founded in June 2024 by Vidhyasahar Thiyagarajan (CEO) and Francesco Rocchi (CTO), the concept for Fusepay was born from the founders’ direct experience managing retail and wholesale businesses in the Seychelles, where they personally encountered the complexities of manual, cheque-based payments.
Platform Features and Market Strategy
The Fusepay platform is tailored specifically for B2B transactions and offers a robust suite of features designed to enhance operational clarity and safety:
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Virtual Business Accounts for streamlined financial management and control.
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Instant Transfers to ensure faster cash flow velocity.
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Post-Dated Digital Payments (FuseCheq), serving as a modern, digital replacement for physical paper cheques.
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Automated Reconciliation capabilities for accounting and finance teams.
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Fusepay Bridge API to allow utilities, telecommunication companies, and government agencies to collect payments electronically and issue instant digital receipts.
Fusepay’s primary revenue stream is generated from its digital cheque replacement service, FuseCheq, which charges a 0.6% fee per transaction for B2B payments. The company is actively targeting high-spending island economies that currently suffer from weak digital payment infrastructure and complex currency dynamics. Thiyagarajan noted that the company is eyeing expansion into more than 20 frontier markets across Africa, the Indian Ocean islands (with expansion planned to Mauritius and the Maldives within 18 months), the Caribbean, and the Pacific, estimating a total addressable market (TAM) of $25 billion. The founders believe that by eliminating the “time wasted and losses caused by outdated systems,” they provide a fundamentally safer and more transparent way for businesses to operate, directly combating risks like employee fraud that have historically caused significant financial damage. Fusepay currently faces no direct fintech competitors focused specifically on B2B digital payments in Seychelles, with its main challenge coming from legacy internet banking and the existing paper cheque systems offered by established local banks. The firm also plans to integrate an inventory and order management system in the future to further streamline SME operations.
