Tyme gets $180M in fresh capital

Digital bank Tyme has raised $180 million in fresh capital from new investors, including Chinese tech giant Tencent and British development financier CDC, to fund the rollout of its digital banking platform in the Philippines and grow its existing business in South Africa.

The group’s local digital banking platform, GOTyme, is a partnership with the Gokongwei group. This unit is envisioned to be its springboard to overseas markets.

“This is a very welcome investment from Tencent and CDC. It is a clear vote of confidence in our digital banking offering as well as our leadership teams in South Africa, Singapore and the Philippines,” Coen Jonker, cofounder of Tyme, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Tencent and CDC contributed $70 million to this “series B” funding round. This refers to the capital raising round when a company has gone past the initial startup stage and achieved certain milestones in developing its business. In this case, Tyme—now one of the world’s fastest growing digital banks—has acquired 4 million customers in 32 months in South Africa, using a hybrid model of digital banking and physical service.

In the Philippines, the banking venture GoTyme is among the six entities that obtained a digital banking license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas under its new banking classification. The local platform is targeted to be launched in the third quarter of 2022.

Tyme’s global footprint also now includes a product development and engineering hub in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.

The first part of Tyme’s series B funding round was concluded earlier this year when it secured $110 million from Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP, and the Gokongweis’ JG Summit Holdings.

These investments are seen to enable Tyme to use its digital infrastructure to accelerate the rollout of financial services to its historic mass market customer base, the company said.

The capital and expertise of Tencent and CDC are also seen to improve Tyme’s ability to manage risk and support its expansion to markets where CDC—United Kingdom’s development finance institution and impact investor—has presence.

TymeBank CEO Tauriq Keraan said: “This is a momentous event for TymeBank. We look forward to continuing to demonstrate our strong strategic and execution capabilities to all our investors and to benefit from the deep global expertise that Tencent and CDC have accumulated through a multitude of investments in digital businesses. “

Patrice Motsepe, chair of African Rainbow Capital, majority shareholder of Tyme, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tencent and CDC as our new coinvestors in Tyme. The ability to attract investors of this calibre is a testament to the strength of Tyme’s value proposition, and its management. The success of TymeBank in South Africa is an example of the innovation of Tyme’s financial services offering as evidenced in our business model. We look forward to a long, successful relationship with Tencent and CDC.”