Following the completion of its most recent investment round, which brought in a total of $250 million, the pioneering digital lender Tyme Group, supported by the South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, has joined the ranks of exceptional African unicorns.
Significant progress has been made in the financial technology landscape of the continent because of the capital infusion, which places the company’s valuation at $1.5 billion.
Several influential investors from across the world participated in the fundraising round, including Nu Holdings Ltd., which is the largest financial institution in Latin America, which contributed $150 million.
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The participation of Nu Holdings, which is well-known for its flagship Nubank, the largest freestanding digital bank in the world and has over 110 million users in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, indicates great trust in Tyme’s business plan. “This is a unique vote of confidence in our business by world leaders in our industry,” President and Co-Founder of Tyme, Coenraad Jonker, said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We are extremely grateful for this opportunity.”
Other significant contributions to the investment round include the Catalyst fund of M&G, which contributed fifty million dollars, while previous investors such as Tencent Holdings Ltd., the Gokongwei Group, and Norrsken22 contributed an additional fifty million dollars. Despite having a forty per cent stake, Motsepe’s investment company, African Rainbow Capital Investments Ltd. (ARC), continues to be the most significant stakeholder. Jonker emphasised that Tyme Bank maintains its position as the only commercial bank in South Africa owned and operated by people of African descent.
Tyme’s ascent to the rank of a unicorn coincides with a resurgence of investor interest in financial technology, which follows a period of turmoil brought on by increased interest rates worldwide.
With its headquarters in Singapore, the firm conducts business in South Africa under the name TymeBank, where it has gathered more than 10 million clients throughout its time there.
In the Philippines, Tyme works with the Gokongwei Group to create the GoTyme brand, contributing to the company’s overall client base of more than 15 million people. Additionally, Tyme has begun offering merchant cash advances in Vietnam by the beginning of this year, and the company is currently preparing to begin operations in Indonesia.
Tyme intends to get an Indonesian banking licence as part of their strategy, and the chairman has indicated that the company is prepared to invest tens of millions of dollars in order to accomplish this goal. Jonker stated that “Job number one is to become the top retail bank in the Philippines, and the next job is to repeat that in Indonesia.”
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Partnerships with retail giants and a wide network of over 1,000 kiosks and 15,000 retail points have been the driving forces behind TymeBank’s fast expansion in South Africa. With a client base of 10 million as of September 30, 2024, and a high activity rate of 74%, the bank has reached sustained profitability, which is an impressive accomplishment for a fintech company that is still in its early stages.
Even though it was anticipated that this Series D investment round would bring in $150 million, it has now exceeded those estimates. Tyme’s reputation as a unicorn will be strengthened as a result of the financing, which will also give resources for future development and innovation.
For the purpose of catering to its South African shareholder base, the bank has also declared that it intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange by the year 2028. Additionally, the bank will have a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.