TymeBank South Africa Sees Unicorn Status in Next Fundraising
(Bloomberg) -- Tyme Group, a digital lender controlled by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, could raise as much as $100 million in funding this year, propelling it into unicorn status.
Most Read from Bloomberg
YouTube and Spotify Won’t Launch Apple Vision Pro Apps, Joining Netflix
Putin Orders Hunt for Property of Russian Empire, Soviet Union
Blinken’s Return From Davos Was Delayed After Plane Broke Down
China’s $6.3 Trillion Stock Selloff Is Getting Uglier by the Day
The bank, which started almost five years ago, is valued at $965 million, Chief Executive Officer Coenraad Jonker said in an interview. “We believe that it is very likely that we cross the $1 billion mark if we meet the $100 million funding target,” he said.
Tyme will spend some of the fresh funding during the second quarter on entry into Vietnam — a fast-growing $470 billion economy with a young population and relatively low unemployment, he said.
Majority-owned by Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, Tyme operates in South Africa, where it has racked up more than 8.5 million customers in five years. It’s also in the Philippines as a joint venture with the local Gokongwei Group and has netted 2.3 million users. The lender is adding 1 million clients a month across the two markets, Jonker said.
“We will be launching additional functionality, improving our virtual-card proposition, expanding our personal lending proposition with a view to becoming more attractive to wealthier customers,” Jonker said. “This is an important part of our progression to becoming a top-three bank.”
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
