Digital payments service provider Peach Payments has acquired customer software development firm Operativa as a going concern. The acquisition was the first by Peach Payments since closing a €29M/US$30M funding round, led by the Apis Growth Fund II, last year.

The acquisition sees the full Operativa team integrated into Peach Payments, with Operativa co-founders Dayne Olivier and Ben Janecke taking on Principal Engineer positions.

Olivier and Janecke have worked with Peach Payments since 2022, building and maintaining a number of the company’s payments systems and solutions. The pair and their team have been instrumental in building the technical architecture that has paved the way for Peach Payments’ rapid expansion, including integrating additional payment methods such as Apple Pay, and onboarding new merchants and banking partners.

“Operativa has been a trusted partner since the very beginning of our relationship, so the opportunity to acquire the business was not only a strategic business decision, but felt like a natural next step,” says Rahul Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Peach Payments.

Operativa has serviced clients in the financial services, information security, e-commerce and cloud hosting industries. Following the acquisition, it is handing over operations for its other clients to ensure business continuity.

“We have always really enjoyed working with Peach Payments. We believe that the business has what it takes to become the undisputed payments leader in Africa. We see this acquisition as a call up to the winning team,” Olivier says.

Janecke says the decision to sell the business had been influenced by a number of factors, including their relationship with Peach Payments and its plans for the future, as well as market conditions.

“We were able to build something really special with Operativa. We made significant strides working with Peach Payments as our partner, and we are confident that as an integrated business, we’ll be able to achieve even more,” Janecke adds.

Bringing Operativa’s specialised skills and developers in-house allows Peach Payments to deliver on its growth strategy more quickly and efficiently, says Jain.

“The additional capital raised from the Apis Growth Fund II is allowing us to execute faster as we build new products and expand across Africa. Operativa has the people, skills, and  intricate knowledge that comes from having worked with us on developing our systems, allowing us to hit the ground running together on some really exciting new projects,” Jain concludes.

The full acquisition is expected to be completed by August.