South African neobank, TymeBank, has raised $250 million in a Series D round which brought its valuation to $1.5 billion.
TymeBank joins Nigeria’s MoniePoint as the latest African fintech to achieve unicorn status in 2024 despite a recent drop in venture capital funding to startups on the continent, joining a list that includes the likes of Flutterwave, MNT Halan, and Wave.
A Look at #African #Startups that Have Achieved #Unicorn Status – https://t.co/zNYixQ4mGB
— Stanley’s Musings (@StanleyEpstein) November 11, 2024
According to reports, TymeBank’s funding was:
- Led by Nu Holdings, the parent company of Latin America’s most valuable fintech, Nubank, which invested $150 million for a 10% stake
- M&G Catalyst Fund contributed $50 million, while
- The remaining $50 million came from existing shareholders
Founded in 2019, Tyme Group operates a hybrid digital banking model that integrates online banking with physical service points, specializing in developing and scaling digital banks in emerging markets.
It offers services such as checking and savings accounts with debit cards, credit through buy now pay later (BNPL) schemes, and cash advances. The company claims to have a customer base of 15 million across its two key markets:
- South Africa and
- The Philippines
Tyme Group’s South African brand, TymeBank, boasts 10 million users and has been a major contributor to its growth. In the Philippines, its brand GoTyme, launched in 2022 through a partnership with the local conglomerate, Gokongwei Group, has gained 5 million users, marking its entry into the Asian market.
🇿🇦MILESTONE | South African NeoBank, TymeBank, Continues Rapid Growth After Crossing 10 Million Users
TymeBank is not just a digital bank but a hybrid bank, which is one of the factors for its success. Its so-called ‘phygital’ operating model, which integrates digital banking… pic.twitter.com/w0lkVq01ot
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) October 5, 2024
According to Tyme, it holds over $400 million in customer deposits and provided more than $600 million in financing to small businesses across its two markets. The fintech has plans to further expand into Vietnam and Indonesia next year.
African Rainbow Capital (ARC), owned by African billionaire, Patrice Motsepe, remains the majority stakeholder in Tyme, retaining a 40% stake in the company founded by chairman, Coen Jonker.
Additionally, the funding round brings Tyme’s total capital raised to nearly $600 million, and according to Jonker, the company is targeting an IPO in New York by 2028, with plans for a secondary listing in South Africa.
For lead investor, Nubank, this investment in Tyme aligns with its strategy to expand geographically and capitalize on the growth opportunities in emerging markets beyond Latin America.
“Since the beginning of Nubank, we have believed that the future of financial services globally is of digitally-native companies. We have met dozens of teams across different geographies, and we think that Tyme Group is extremely well-positioned to be one of the digital bank leaders in Africa and Southeast Asia,” says David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank.
“We are excited to work with Tyme to share many of our learnings of scaling this model to hundreds of millions of customers.”
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