Touch and Pay Technologies Ltd (YC W22)
“Can NFC-first offline payment rails make sub-$0.10 micro-transactions profitable across Africa's informal economy?”
Founded2019
HQLagos, Nigeria
FoundersOlamide Afolabi, Michael Oluwole
Total raised$5.2M
Latest roundSeed, 2022 ($3M)
IndustryFintech / Payments
The story
Founded 2019 in Lagos to solve micro-transaction payments (N60-N100 bus fares, snacks, groceries) — an unprofitable segment ignored by global processors. Built the Cowry NFC card that works offline as the flagship product, becoming the dominant transit payment method in Lagos. Post-YC W22 expansion into health (Health Touch), merchant payments, E-Tap, and government collections — moving from a single-use transit card to a broader micro-transaction payment rail across Africa.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
2019
Founded in Lagos to digitize micro-transactions using NFC technology· pivot
2021
Cowry 'tap to ride' contactless payment adopted by 1.5M Lagosians for bus fares· banking
2022
Accepted into Y Combinator W22 batch· pivot
2022
Closed $3M seed round to fund continental expansion· pivot
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Touch and Pay Technologies Ltd (YC W22)’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Cowry (self-operated)E-Tap (self-operated)Merchant Payment (self-operated)
Card issuing
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
1 more provider across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.