Digitizing Business Payments in Paradise: Fusepay Raises $350K to Replace Cheques in the Indian Ocean
FusePay is a mobile money app aimed at transforming payment solutions in underserved African islands by significantly reducing transaction fees and enabling real-time settlements.
Fusepay, a Seychelles-based fintech co-founded by Vidhyasahar Thiyagarajan (CEO) and Francesco Rocchi (CTO), has raised $350,000 in pre-seed funding to digitize business payments across the Indian Ocean islands—starting with Seychelles. The round was led by Hustle Fund, with participation from Everywhere Ventures, First Check Ventures, Startup Istanbul, and angel investor Ryan Nesbitt.
The mission is bold but practical: modernize finance in a region still dominated by cash, paper, and manual processes. “We‘re helping businesses save money, save time, and prevent fraud,” said Thiyagarajan. “This funding marks a key milestone in our journey to become a licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP) in Seychelles.”
From Frustration to Fintech
Both founders grew up in Seychelles, helping their families run retail and wholesale businesses. They saw firsthand how much friction was caused by outdated financial systems—missed payments, paper cheques, and high risk of fraud. That lived experience, combined with stints at high-growth startups like YC-backed Alaan, inspired them to build a tailored solution for the market they know best.
Fusepay’s first product, FuseCheq, enables secure, post-dated digital payments—replacing the region’s soon-to-be-phased-out physical cheques. The timing couldn’t be better: the Seychelles government is moving to eliminate cheques altogether, opening a window for tech-driven solutions like Fusepay to lead the transition.
Next up: an Invoice payment platform, launching later this month, designed to streamline accounts payable and receivable for small and medium-sized businesses.
An Emerging Hub
Fusepay now employs a team of ten, including engineers and finance professionals with experience at companies like Intel and Goldman Sachs. Their goal is to build infrastructure that not only digitizes transactions but helps make business operations safer and more efficient in some of the world’s most overlooked financial markets.
In a region known more for beaches than banking innovation, Fusepay is quietly laying the groundwork for a digital finance ecosystem that could ripple far beyond Seychelles.
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