South Africa: Tyme raises $77.8m
Digital banking group Tyme has raised investment from Norrsken22 and Blue Earth Capital. The two new investors have come on-board as part of its pre-Series C capital raise. This comes as the group’s South African flagship, TymeBank, celebrates its seven million customer milestone this month.
Along with the two new shareholders – Norrsken22, an African focused tech growth fund, and Blue Earth Capital, an independent global impact investment firm – Tyme’s shareholders have invested a total of $77.8 million, with Tencent increasing its shareholding to become Tyme’s third largest shareholder. The funds being raised are intended to further operations in South Africa and the Philippines as well as for future expansion in Southeast Asia.
Tyme was the first bank in South Africa to be operated fully off a cloud-based infrastructure network, and now makes it possible to open a fully regulated bank account in less than five minutes, which can be done online or from a TymeBank kiosk.
Coen Jonker, co-founder of Tyme and TymeBank CEO commented, “We are delighted to welcome Norrsken22 and Blue Earth Capital to the group of high-calibre investors who have bought into Tyme’s growth story and its mission to democratise financial services by lowering cost and other barriers to access.”
Natalie Kolbe, managing partner at Norrsken22 said, “We are delighted to invest in Tyme. The company offers a unique product with huge customer appeal, which has led to fast and sustained growth. We have analysed a lot of fintechs from across the continent, and Tyme set itself apart with its impressive growth, its differentiated product, and its unique ability to reach and serve new customer groups. The exceptional management team have already built one of the largest challenger banks in the world, and we are looking forward to being part of the next phase of their journey.”
David Moore, principal of funds and co-investments at BlueEarth stated, “We invested in Tyme Group thanks to our long-standing partnership with Apis Partners who look to build on their mission to generate attractive commercial returns alongside key priorities of reduced inequalities and greater financial inclusion. BlueEarth is excited about backing Tyme’s innovative, retail partnership model which enables affordable access to first-class banking products to all consumers, including those most vulnerable or living in remote locations.”
Work continues with interested investors, with Series C expected to close later in the year. Tyme completed its Series B in December 2021. Led by existing shareholders, the capital raise brought in a total of $180 million. African Rainbow Capital (ARC) remains Tyme’s majority shareholder.
TymeBank’s hybrid model of digital banking and physical service has made banking accessible to South Africans across the economic spectrum. The bank has well established partnerships with national retailers Pick n Pay and Boxer, fashion retailer TFG (The Foschini Group), as well as the largest church in South Africa, the Zion Christian Church.
GoTyme in the Philippines launched in October 2022 in partnership with the Gokongwei Group. The digital bank was modelled on South Africa’s TymeBank, and this imported concept has progressed financial access as it offers Filipino consumers affordable and accessible financial service solutions.
The group’s global footprint includes a product development and engineering hub in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which employs a team of skilled people, including over three hundred engineers. Tyme’s global headquarters in Singapore house its strategy, business development, data, analytics and AI functions.