South African payments company Yoco raises $83m
South African payments and software platform, Yoco, has secured $83 million in series C funding amid a surge in demand for digital payments amongst African small businesses.
This is the largest single investment raised by a small business-focused payments platform in the Middle East and Africa and the largest ever raised by a payments company in South Africa.
The latest investment round brings the total funds raised to date, by Yoco, to $107 million. These funds will enable Yoco to accelerate the development of its financial ecosystem for small businesses, which already includes online and in-store payments, business software and capital, as well as expand its market presence beyond South Africa.
Among the company’s new investors are Dragoneer Investment Group, which is making its Africa investment debut, after having previously backed fintech giants like Chime, Nubank, Mercado Libre, Square and Klarna. Also joining the round were Breyer Capital, HOF Capital, The Raba Partnership, 4DX Ventures, TO Ventures and several current and former executives from global tech leaders such as Coinbase, Revolut, Spotify and Gojek.
The funding round also included existing Yoco investors Partech, Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures, Orange Ventures and Quona Capital.
According to Katlego Maphai, chief executive officer of Yoco, the successful conclusion of this fundraising round speaks volumes about the growth potential of the African small business sector.
Carl Wazen, Yoco’s chief business officer, says that despite being the largest payments platform in South Africa, Yoco is still at the beginning of its journey. “There are over 6 million small businesses in South Africa and well over 100 million across the Middle East and Africa that still transact only in cash.” Wazen says, “recent consumer behaviour shows a shift away from cash and businesses have to rapidly adapt to this change. This presents a huge opportunity and it is our mission to support that transition.”
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