The fastest way to subcontract and pay flexible teams

One platform for agencies, independents and subcontractors - smart invoicing, instant payments, and global collaboration made simple. Underpinned by an embedded community of fractional talent.

We’re backed by

For Independent Talent

Collaborate, subcontract, pay & get paid - instantly.

A radically simpler way to track and get paid for your time, quickly.  Scale your earnings by collaborating with vetted independents to create your own pop-up teams.

Think Splitwise meets Slack.

Easily manage projects, track billable hours, and streamline payments—all in one place. Split-bills & consolidate multiple team member payments into one, instant transaction. Intuitive, fast, and affordable.

Instant, feeless transactions via talent-to-talent wallets.

Send and receive payments instantly, across borders, with no hidden fees. Custom built for subcontracting and paying flexible teams.

Expert Support & Benefits

Access Rafiki’s Experts in Residence for guidance, networking, and career growth. Need complementary skillsets to service existing clients? Collaborate directly with fractional specialists by forming pop-up teams. Access wellness and software benefits in over 130 countries.

For Businesses

Fractional Talent, Payments & Compliance for Flexible Teams

Finally, a fast, easy-to-use, and affordable solution for onboarding, verifying, and paying flexible teams around the world. Hands-on support for flexible mid-senior talent sourcing, compliance, benefits and payments.

Instant transactions across borders.

Instant, fee-less transactions via stablecoin wallets across borders. Standardise billing, eliminate delays, and safeguard currency volatility across flexible, distributed teams.

Stay Compliant

Built-in Know Your Customer (KYC) & KYB verification ensures compliance, alongside Employer of Record (EOR) or Contractor of Record (COR) in 130+ countries.  

Expert Support On-Demand

Get specialised hands-on executional support from Rafiki’s Fractional Experts in Residence.

Benefits for flexible teams

Offer your flexible team access to health & wellness benefits in over 130 countries.

One-Click Multi-Payment Routing

Pay multiple contractors across borders or currencies in a single transaction, reducing admin work.

Why Independents & Businesses Choose Rafiki

“Rafiki has done a great job building out our brand, website and booking engine integration. Their team are super knowledgeable and helped us come to quick and well thought out product decisions that lead to us launching our first product in weeks rather than months”

Nicolas Beterette

Co founder & CEO | Onzite

"We were very impressed at the quality and speed of Rafiki's work and I'm really looking forward to continuing the relationship."

Ryan Beangstrom

Co Founder | Verdant Data

Working with Rafiki has been great. Excellent and proactive, catering extremely well to our schedule and requests. We really enjoyed working with them and we couldn’t recommend them more highly.

Niccolo Pantucci

Lead Agent

"I am beyond thrilled with the exceptional work and partnership we’ve experienced with Rafiki Works in creating our new corporate CI and website. Special thanks go to Greg, Nick, Kath, and Dan, whose creativity, dedication, and expertise truly shone through in every aspect of the project. Their collaborative approach, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence made the entire process smooth and enjoyable. The results have far exceeded our expectations, and I am excited about the future projects we will undoubtedly embark on together. Thank you for making this a truly outstanding experience!"

Nicolas Mack

Founder

"From the initial brief all the way through to project handover, our experience with Rafiki has been excellent. Their fractional freelancer model is clear, seamless and effective, and we look forward to continuing the working relationship."

Brett Matheson

Co-Founder and Director of Operations | Metavolve

"Rafiki works with the cream of the crop. They are perfectly positioned to match innovative clients with the best developers in South Africa. Thanks you!"

Anesu murakata

Software Engineer

"Rafiki is an excellent platform that connects and supports freelancers. Collaborating with them has been really easy and delightful experience."

Jackie Zhang

Product Designer

"It’s great working with such a talented and energetic team. From our first chat to the first project, everything about RafikWorks, works. I’ve really enjoyed the experience, and love the exposure to global clients."

Dan Nash

Creative Strategist & Agency Owner

"Working with Rafiki Works has been an absolute pleasure. I’ve always appreciated their open and clear communication. Their passion for freelancing and recruitment in Africa is genuine. A lot to look forward to with joining their team!"

Daniel Lun

Senior Webflow Developer

FAQs

Everything you need to know about using Rafiki's  payments, collaboration, and subcontracting software for independent talent and flexible workforces.

What is Rafiki?

Rafiki provides instant payments, collaboration, and subcontracting software for fractional talent and flexible workforces. Rafiki is split between 2 core pillars:

1. Rafiki OS: A standalone SaaS with embedded FinTech focussed on variable payments for flexible teams. The platform leverages Open Banking, Stablecoins, and various other Crypto and Mobile Money mechanisms to make billing, payments and smart invoicing fast and affordable. Rafiki OS can be used in 130+ countries around the world to KYC, KYB, bill, and make cross-border payments.

2. Rafiki Talent Services: Mid-senior freelance and fractional talent support for the professional services, specifically digital and technical skillsets. Our community of senior talent between Africa, the UK and Netherlands, are vetted and verified, and can be engaged directly or project managed by Rafiki's in-house management team. Rafiki Talent Services offers Contractor of Record (CoR) and Employer of Record (EoR), as well as benefits for teams of contract workers and freelancers, in over 130 countries globally. All Rafiki Talent Services are managed via Rafiki OS.

What makes Rafiki different to other platforms?

Rafiki is purpose built for variable payments across flexible teams. We leverage Open Banking with Stablecoin payments, automated compliance, and embedded fractional specialists to create an all-in-one destination for onboarding, managing and paying flexible teams.

What currencies does Rafiki support?

Payment Flows Overview: Countries, Costs, Processing Times, and Cut-Offs

Deposits (Pay-ins / Onramps)

  • EU (EUR)
    • Fee: €0.50 + 1.00%
    • Processing: T+0 (Instant)
    • Availability: 24/7
    • Method: SEPA / SEPA Instant
  • USA (USD)
    • Fee: $0.00 + 0.20%
    • Processing: T+1 (ACH) / T+0 (Wire)
    • Cut-off: 4 pm ET (Wire)
    • Method: ACH / Fedwire

  • GBP (United Kingdom)
    • Fee: ~2% per transaction
    • Processing: T+0 (Instant)
    • Availability: 24/7
    • Method: Faster Payments

  • USDC / USDT (Crypto)
    • Fee: $0.00 + 0.00%
    • Processing: Instant
    • Availability: N/A
    • Method: Blockchain

Withdrawals (Payouts / Offramps)

  • EU (EUR)
    • Fee: $1.00 + 0.60%
    • Processing: T+0 (Instant)
    • Availability: 24/7
    • Method: SEPA

  • South Africa (ZAR)
    • Fee: $1.50 + 1.40%
    • Processing: T+0
    • Cut-off: 15:00 GMT
    • Method: Local
  • USA (USD)
    • Fee: $0.50 + 0.50%
    • Processing: T+0 (Wire) / T+1 (ACH)
    • Cut-off: 4 pm ET (Wire)
    • Method: Fedwire / ACH
  • USDT (Crypto)
    • Additional withdrawal fee: 0.10%

Please Note:

  • We also cover 8 countries within LATAM, alongside 4 other countries within Africa.
    • Should your desired country not be listed above, please reach out. We are constantly rolling out additional on/off ramping abilities within various crypto, fiat, and mobile money markets.

How do you vet your talent?

We take a 3 stage approach to vetting talent. Following an application, we invite top prospects for an interview, assessing skills, experience, and career aspirations. We prioritise skill over traditional degrees, work experience, and cross-check with any testimonials available to accept expert, high-intent talent. To date, we have accepted ~3% of applications into our 'Experts In Residence' programme.

Who is Rafiki for?

Rafiki is for independent talent and companies working with this talent globally.

Freelancers, consultants, fractional professionals, small & independent agency owners, founders, startups, and SMBs. We've made onboarding, verifying, billing and payments easy for contract workers, freelancers, teams of independents, and any businesses or agencies managing and paying these independents.

Hire pop-up teams of fractional specialists.

Join the ecosystem of freelancers, founders, and agency owners collaborating to service top international startups and SMBs.

Hire & collaborate with independent specialists in:

UI Design
Low-Code Dev
UX Design
Graphic Design
AI Consultants
Digital Strategy
Product Design
GTM Strategy
Brand Design
Frontend Dev
Digital Marketing

A new way to earn more, for less.

Access international projects, create your own pop-up teams, & earn more.

Our mission is to build a space which empowers freelancers, fractional professionals, and small digital agency owners to progress their careers, grow their businesses, collaborate, and win bigger deals.


Apply to the Rafiki network today.

Put your best foot forward, we only accept the top few applicants each month.

If accepted, you’ll get exposure to both Rafiki agency projects + international projects looking for skill-specific specialists.

You’ll also be able to connect with complementary skill-sets, build your own pop-up teams,  and close larger projects.

Validate, build, & grow. Efficiently.

Access the skills you need, on-demand & fully-managed.

Tell us about your business, we’re here to listen. After hearing about what you want, we’ll advise on what you really need, no extras!

We’ll assess your needs & whether you’re a good match for our business & team.

We take a partnership-styled approach and prefer to work with founders we align with well.

By being part of the Rafiki platform, you’ll be able to scale your team up & down as and when you need.

We’ll help you identify the right talent, and take care of all fractional workforce payments & admin.

Increase your agency potential.

We’re the chicken to your egg...

...or is it the egg to your chicken? With access to flexible, skill-specific talent, we’ll help you juggle overheads with fluctuating client demands. You’ll also get access to international projects and client work, as Rafiki drives the right demand towards your offering.

Apply as an agency today.

We’ll assess whether or not you’re a good match for our platform and the international client demand we’re currently receiving.

If your agency is accepted, you’ll get access to flexible, skill-specific product, design, marketing & strategy specialists for your agency.

You’ll then reap the rewards of being able to adjust your team as and when client demands fluctuate.

Act like a startup, sting like an SMB.

Move fast, move lean, & get your new product seen.

We’ve worked with private equity funds, travel and hospitality brands, consultancies, and distribution companies. Regardless of what you are, we’ll ensure you approach talent acquisition & projects like a lean startup.

You’ve got an exciting project on the cards, but you’re unsure what skillsets you need, and want a flexible team to drive the project.

We’ll find the exact skills your business needs.

And introduce you to your pop-up team of specialists, and your Rafiki Project manager.

Trusted by

1 perfect
freelancer or team
150k

members

4x
(let’s be honest)
10x

faster than hiring in-house

30%-40%
(more value)
80%

Less employment cost per month

FAQs

Everything you need to know about using Rafiki to build your freelance business, grow your agency, or find the right fractional talent to grow your company.

What is Rafiki Works?

Rafiki is a B2B SaaS helping specialist independent talent in Africa earn more through collaboration.Rafiki’s platform helps manage top skill-specific, fractional talent across Africa, empowering them with our SaaS-enabled marketplace to help talent collaborate to increase earnings potential, and service top international clients.Rafiki’s platform also helps international startups and SMBs structure teams efficiently through efficient management of contingent workforces and freelance projects.We’re building a space which empowers freelancers, fractional professionals, and small agency owners to progress their careers, grow their own small businesses, collaborate, and win bigger deals.

What is Rafiki?

Rafiki provides instant payments, collaboration, and subcontracting software for fractional talent and flexible workforces. Rafiki is split between 2 core pillars:

1. Rafiki OS: A standalone SaaS with embedded FinTech focussed on variable payments for flexible teams. The platform leverages Open Banking, Stablecoins, and various other Crypto and Mobile Money mechanisms to make billing, payments and smart invoicing fast and affordable. Rafiki OS can be used in 130+ countries around the world to KYC, KYB, bill, and make cross-border payments.

2. Rafiki Talent Services: Mid-senior freelance and fractional talent support for the professional services, specifically digital and technical skillsets. Our community of senior talent between Africa, the UK and Netherlands, are vetted and verified, and can be engaged directly or project managed by Rafiki's in-house management team. Rafiki Talent Services offers Contractor of Record (CoR) and Employer of Record (EoR), as well as benefits for teams of contract workers and freelancers, in over 130 countries globally. All Rafiki Talent Services are managed via Rafiki OS.

Who is Rafiki for?

Rafiki is for independent freelance or small agency talent in Africa, and founders, startups and SMBs internationally.

What makes Rafiki different to other platforms?

It’s important for us that we emphasise that we are not another open talent marketplace. Our SaaS enabled focus on talent utility is specific to collaboration between talent, billing, and project management of contingent workforces.  If existing freelance platforms find you the Aquaman you ordered on Wish,  Rafiki delivers the Uber Lux you’ve always wanted to your door, while giving our independent drivers of business growth the tools they need to build successful fractional careers.

Is Rafiki free?

Yes, Rafiki is free for talent to use, and we'll never cut into the earnings potential of talent. However, we do not accept all talent applications, and maintain strict vetting of talent and a needs assessment considering international demand when accepting applications.

Rafiki has various flexible pricing tiers for founders, agency owners, startups and SMBs looking for support or access to our skill-specific talent on an ongoing, fractional basis.

Is Rafiki only for freelancers and agency owners in Africa?

We're focussed on creating opportunities for talent across Africa. As such, we are currently only open to freelance and small agency talent in Africa.

All international founders, startups or SMBs looking for talent are welcome to enquire.

How do we vet talent?

We currently manually vet every application we receive based on the relevant fields our application form requires. Following this, we interview each applicant before deciding on whether or not they're accepted into our platform. Where possible, we test talent on internal projects with smaller clients before recommending them for larger projects directly.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.