South African startup Rafiki is positioning itself as a game-changer for international collaboration by tackling one of the most persistent headaches in global freelance work: slow, expensive, and complicated payments.
The company has developed what it calls a “work and payments operating system,” or OS, that lets agencies and freelancers raise a single consolidated invoice for a project and automatically distribute funds to every subcontractor, no matter where they are in the world.
Co-founder Greg Cooke says early users are already routing payments between Africa, Europe, and the United States, and the company aims for a public launch in early 2026.
What Rafiki Is
Rafiki acts as a digital headquarters for teams working across borders. Instead of juggling multiple bills, a client pays one invoice through the platform.
Rafiki then splits the payment instantly among all team members, sending money as either traditional currency or stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a steady value. Free and instant wallet-to-wallet transfers cut out the usual 5 –10 percent international wire fees.
“Unlike other embedded finance or invoicing platforms, we’ve focused on multi-party, collaborative invoicing and the associated flow of funds, saving significant time and cost,” said Cooke.
This focus on collaborative payments distinguishes Rafiki from standard invoicing software.
How Rafiki Started
Rafiki’s story began in 2023 when Greg Cooke and Nicolas Boswell launched a straightforward freelance marketplace. Early users, however, wanted more than a job board: they needed streamlined teamwork and payments.
The founders first pivoted to forming curated “hit squads” of senior freelancers for specific projects.
From there, they built a full operating system to manage global teams and payments, an evolution shaped by constant feedback from agencies and independent workers seeking a faster, cheaper alternative to traditional banking.
The Main Problem It Solves
International agencies and startups often wrestle with scattered invoices, delayed settlements, and high bank fees.
According to the World Bank’s 2024 data, sending $200 across borders costs an average of 6.2 percent, and transfers can take several days. For small teams, those costs and delays can erode profit margins and strain client relationships.
Rafiki’s single-invoice model eliminates multiple billing cycles and automates payouts to every subcontractor, reducing the overall cost of cross-border payments and accelerating cash flow.
Why Rafiki Is Special
Beyond payments, Rafiki embeds a vetted network of senior freelancers and micro-agencies, primarily from Africa, directly into its platform. That means a design studio in Cape Town can bring on a trusted Nairobi developer or a New York marketing expert in minutes.
The system supports both fiat and stablecoin payouts, offering resilience against currency fluctuations and making it attractive in regions where exchange rates can shift overnight.
Cooke argues that rivals such as Payoneer, Wise, or Deel “don’t combine multi-party invoicing with embedded talent in the way we do, nor do they integrate stablecoin payments for immediate, low-cost transfers.”
Who Can Use Rafiki
Rafiki primarily targets agencies and independent professionals who handle international projects, focusing on South African firms serving the U.S., EU, and U.K. markets.
Yet the demand stretches farther: the platform is seeing growing interest along the U.S.–Latin America and Africa–Europe corridors, where subcontracting networks are expanding rapidly.
At present, around 20 agencies, startups, and freelancers in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria are testing the system in a private beta.
Cooke notes that Rafiki maintains a “growing waitlist” of eager participants for upcoming test rounds.
Funding and Launching Plans
So far, Rafiki has operated without heavy venture capital. The company’s early support comes from accelerators, angel investors, and equity-free grants, including backing from Baobab Network, Jobtech Alliance, and CVLabs.
“We’re fortunate enough to have strong revenue and a growing pipeline, meaning to-date we’ve not been reliant on larger VC funding,” Cooke said.
That is about to change: a pre-seed funding round is scheduled for September 2025, intended to scale operations and prepare for the public launch in the first quarter of 2026.
Looking Ahead: Building a Global Network
Rafiki plans to open another private testing cohort in November 2025, inviting more agencies and freelancers to help refine the platform’s features.
Cooke envisions Rafiki as more than a payment processor: a trusted global hub where small teams can “scale faster and pay smarter,” making cross-border subcontracting as seamless as hiring someone in the same city.
With its combination of multi-party invoicing, instant global transfers, and embedded talent, Rafiki aims to reshape how international creative and tech projects are staffed and paid, turning what has long been a logistical challenge into a competitive advantage.
Talking Points
Rafiki is tackling a genuine weak spot in the global freelance economy, how to split and move money across borders when multiple independent contractors are involved, but its strategy also raises important questions.
By positioning itself as both a payment processor and a talent marketplace, the startup is effectively inserting itself into the financial lifeblood of small agencies and freelancers, capturing fees and data at every step.
Its multi-party invoicing and stablecoin-based transfers could sharply cut transaction costs compared with traditional banking, a potential boost for African and emerging-market talent.
Yet this dual role demands airtight compliance with anti-money-laundering rules, reliable currency conversion safeguards, and robust dispute resolution mechanisms if it is to avoid the regulatory and trust pitfalls that have tripped up other fintech platforms.
Rafiki’s success will depend not just on its technology, but on its ability to maintain transparency and fairness while orchestrating the delicate flow of global freelance payments.
