1. What is Rafiki Fractional Talent Services
Rafiki Fractional Talent Services is the embedded hiring layer of Rafiki OS. It provides access to trusted independents and micro-agencies that already operate inside the Rafiki ecosystem. They are fully verified and ready to onboard, invoice, and get paid instantly through Rafiki OS.
Every engagement runs on Rafiki OS, which means:
- Invoices and payments flow automatically.
- Compliance and verification are built in.
- Collaborations can scale from a single project to ongoing retainers without changing tools.
2. Why fractional and micro-agency talent
Modern startups and agencies no longer need full time hires for every function. They need access to the right expertise at the right time and cost.
Fractional specialists bring senior skills for a set number of hours or projects each month. They focus on high impact work such as strategy, growth, and leadership functions.
Micro-agencies combine small, focused teams that deliver specific outputs efficiently. This includes creative production, growth campaigns, product builds, and operational support.
Rafiki bridges both models. It gives you flexible access to specialists and teams that already understand startup and agency environments and are comfortable working inside multi-party projects.
3. Why South Africa and LATAM talent
South Africa and LATAM have become important hubs for fractional and agency-as-a-service work.
Reasons include:
- High quality professionals across design, development, marketing, finance, and operations.
- Strong English proficiency and cultural alignment with global markets.
- Rates that are often 40 to 70 percent below equivalent roles in the UK or US.
- Time zones that align with Europe, the UK, and large parts of the US working day.
- Improved reliability of cross border payments through modern rails.
Rafiki OS supports ZAR, USD, EUR, GBP, and major LATAM currencies, with near instant settlement between Rafiki wallets and low cost local off ramps. This lets you work with teams in South Africa and LATAM as easily as if they were based in your own country.
4. How Rafiki Fractional Talent Services works
4.1 Step one - define what you need
Share what you are trying to achieve. This can be a defined project, a fractional role, or a problem to solve. Examples include a fractional CMO, a Webflow and product design squad, a finance operations partner, or a regional growth agency.
4.2 Step two - Rafiki matches you
The Rafiki team matches you with vetted fractional talent or micro-agencies that fit your brief, experience needs, time zone, and budget. The aim is to provide a shortlist of partners who can operate as an extension of your core team.
4.3 Step three - collaborate through Rafiki OS
Once you choose a partner, the engagement runs through Rafiki OS.
- Projects, scopes, and roles are set up in Rafiki OS.
- Work and time are logged against those projects.
- Invoices are generated automatically from approved work.
- Payments are routed to each collaborator with minimal friction and low FX cost.
5. Example roles and functions in the Rafiki network
Rafiki Fractional Talent Services focuses on specialists and teams who can plug into startups and agencies quickly.
- Growth and marketing - fractional CMOs, performance marketers, lifecycle and CRM specialists, content strategists.
- Design and product - UX and UI designers, product managers, Webflow and no code builders, design systems specialists.
- Finance and operations - fractional CFOs, financial controllers, revenue operations, operations leads.
- Tech and engineering - full stack engineers, automation and workflow builders, data analysts.
- Creative and production - motion designers, editors, illustrators, copywriters, production partners.
All talent and agencies in the network are KYC or KYB verified and payment ready. This reduces risk and shortens the time from first conversation to real work.
6. Why startups and agencies choose Rafiki
Rafiki combines talent access and payments in one system so you do not have to glue several tools together.
- Speed - access fractional teams and micro-agencies in days rather than months.
- Trust - work with pre-vetted partners whose payments are handled safely inside Rafiki OS.
- Affordability - benefit from South African and LATAM rates without complex bank setups.
- Compliance - rely on KYC and KYB checks linked to every engagement and payment.
- Collaboration - manage projects, approvals, and payments from one dashboard.
7. Typical use cases
7.1 Startups needing senior help without full time hires
A startup hires a fractional CMO and a fractional finance lead from South Africa through Rafiki. They structure a three to six month engagement with clear scopes and hours, and use Rafiki OS for all billing and payouts.
7.2 Agencies building out a global bench
An agency in the UK wants to work with a South African production studio and a LATAM growth team. They use Rafiki to discover partners, run projects, and pay everyone from one client invoice in GBP or EUR.
7.3 Portfolios and holding companies
A portfolio of startups uses Rafiki Fractional Talent Services to share high quality talent across multiple companies. Rafiki OS tracks work and payments at both project and company level, so each team sees their cost and impact clearly.
8. Hire or join Rafiki Fractional Talent Services
8.1 If you are hiring
Use Rafiki to find fractional specialists and micro-agencies who can operate as an extension of your core team. They are used to working in startup and agency environments and are payment ready from day one.
View Rafiki Fractional Talent Services
8.2 If you are talent
If you are a fractional specialist or a micro-agency working with startups or agencies, you can join the Rafiki network and gain access to relevant opportunities.
Apply to join the Rafiki network
9. Summary
Rafiki Fractional Talent Services is the quickest and easiest way to find trusted startup service providers. It combines:
- Vetted fractional and micro-agency talent across South Africa and LATAM.
- Fast, affordable cross border payments through Rafiki OS.
- Project based workflows that match how modern teams actually work.
The result is a simple, credible way to build flexible, global teams around your most important projects without adding complexity to your back office.
