Standard Bank backs Optasia’s Johannesburg IPO
The bank supported Optasia’s growth from start-up to public company.
By Standard Bank
Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, is proud of its leading role as a banking and equity partner in Optasia’s remarkable growth story, supporting the company from early-stage start-up to its successful listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Standard Bank catalysed debt and private capital through the critical growth stages of Optasia and has played a pivotal role in the initial public offering (IPO) process, acting as a joint global coordinator, stabilisation manager, and transaction sponsor.
Optasia is the largest fintech IPO on the JSE and is the largest fintech listing since 2018, providing investors with access to a high growth, emerging market platform business underpinned by cutting edge AI technology. The company’s financial technology platform enables financial institutions and mobile network operators to drive financial inclusion through micro financing and airtime credit services.
It is one of the largest AI-powered fintech platforms across Africa and emerging markets, reaching more than 120 million active users each month across 38 countries, whilst leading the market in disbursement volumes and geographic presence.
“From humble beginnings, as a single country airtime credit services provider, Optasia has scaled into an emerging market fintech powerhouse, enabling financial access for millions, through an internally developed financial technology platform covering scoring, financial decisioning, disbursement, and collection. We are optimistic on the future of Optasia and look forward to its next exciting phase of growth as a listed company on the JSE,” says Bassim Haidar, founder of Optasia.
“As Africa’s leading investment bank, we are deeply privileged to have been partners to Optasia, its founder and shareholders, not only as an advisor and funding partner, but importantly as an equity investor catalysing private equity capital at multiple stages of the Optasia growth journey. This is a testament to our unmatched expertise in delivering a market-leading value proposition in public and private markets across Africa. Optasia’s IPO represents a massive vote of confidence in the JSE as a listing venue for African companies, including high-growth technology-enabled businesses,” said Yusuf Noorbhai, Head of structured capital at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking.
Roger Grobler, a partner at Chronos Capital, adds: “Chronos is focused on generating long term value for its co-investors by investing in market-leading businesses that scale through technology and AI. It has been a great honour to partner with Standard Bank, an amazing founder and strong management team at Optasia, a core team of investors and business builders to grow emerging market unicorns like Optasia.”