South African financial technology firm, Tyme Group, has successfully raised $250 million in a Series D funding round, elevating its valuation to $1.5 billion. This investment signals a resurgence of investor confidence in the fintech sector, particularly after a period of slower growth.
The funding was spearheaded by Nu Holdings, the parent company of Latin America’s leading fintech, Nubank. Nu Holdings contributed $150 million in exchange for a 10% stake. Further investment came from the M&G Catalyst Fund, which injected $50 million, with the remaining $50 million provided by existing shareholders. This brings Tyme’s total capital raised to almost $600 million.
Tyme, established in 2019 and headquartered in Singapore, operates a distinctive hybrid digital banking model. This approach blends the convenience of online banking with strategically located physical service points. The company focuses on establishing and expanding digital banks within emerging economies, offering essential financial services such as current and savings accounts, debit cards, buy now, pay later (BNPL) credit options, and cash advances. Tyme currently serves 15 million customers across South Africa and the Philippines.
The South African branch, TymeBank, boasts 10 million users and has been a significant contributor to the group’s overall expansion. Its Philippine counterpart, GoTyme, launched in 2022 in collaboration with the local Gokongwei Group, has already amassed 5 million users, marking Tyme’s entry into the Asian market. Tyme reports having accumulated over $400 million in customer deposits and extended more than $600 million in financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across its operating regions. The company has ambitions to broaden its reach further, with planned expansions into Vietnam and Indonesia in the coming year.
For Nubank, this investment in Tyme is in line with its strategic objective to diversify geographically and capitalise on the growth opportunities present in emerging markets beyond Latin America. While Nubank has established a strong presence in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, serving over 100 million customers, competition in its core markets is intensifying with rivals like Neon and C6 Bank vying for market share. Nubank’s investment in Tyme isn’t its first venture beyond Latin America; it previously invested in the Indian neobank, Jupiter, in 2021.
Tyme, under the chairmanship of Coen Jonker, remains majority-owned by Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (ARC), which retains a 40% shareholding. The company is reportedly considering an initial public offering (IPO) in New York by 2028, with plans for a secondary listing in South Africa. This funding round has positioned Tyme alongside Nigeria’s Moniepoint as one of the few African fintechs to achieve ‘unicorn’ status (a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion) this year, demonstrating the increasing prominence of African fintech on the global stage.
David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, commented on the investment, stating that Nubank has always believed in the potential of digitally-native companies in the financial services sector. He added that after evaluating numerous teams across various regions, Nubank believes Tyme Group is exceptionally well-placed to become a leader in digital banking in both Africa and SouthEast Asia. He expressed enthusiasm about collaborating with Tyme and sharing Nubank’s experience in scaling this model to potentially hundreds of millions of customers.
