According to TechCrunch, South African neobank TymeBank has raised $77.8 million in a pre-Series C round led by African-focused growth stage fund, Norrsken22 and Swiss global impact investment firm, Blue Earth Capital.
TymeBank, majority-owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, claims to have hit 7 million customers in South Africa alone. It also claims to be raking in revenues of over $100 million and onboarding over 300,000 new customers monthly from its South African and Philippine operations.
“Tyme has continually pushed forward the evolution of banking. 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. It also takes nine seconds to send money to any cellphone in South Africa using TymeBank’s SendMoney app,” the neobank said in a statement.
According to the company, the capital injection will be used to further its operations in South Africa and the Philippines and for future expansion in Southeast Asia.
“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 analyzed 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,” said Natalie Kolbe, the managing partner at Norrsken22.
TymeBank is an imprint of the Tyme Group of companies headquartered in Singapore. Its parent company under the imprint, Tyme, focuses on designing, building and operating digital banks for emerging markets.
The neobank launched in South Africa in February 2019, offering potential customers a transactional bank account with zero or low monthly fees as well as a savings product. To date, it has raised over $260 million in capital.
