Yoco, a South African based fintech that helps small businesses, has closed an $83 million Series C round taking the total investments in the firm to $107 million.
The company’s Series C investment is the largest of its kind in South Africa and one of the largest for any African fintech (third only to Flutterwave and Chipper Cash). Yoco’s chief business officer Carl Wazen claims it is the largest by any small business-focused payments platform in the Middle East and Africa.”
The Seed round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group – a group that has backed fintech giants like Chime, Klarna, Nubank, Mercado Libre and Square.
According to Christian Jensen, co-head of private investments at Dragoneer, “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the Yoco team. At Dragoneer, we look for great teams that are building durable businesses with wonderful economic models, and that is exactly what we’ve found at Yoco.”
“Yoco is already beloved by customers, and the product roadmap that the company is investing behind will drive even more value for merchants. While there is tremendous room for continued growth domestically, the opportunity for Yoco goes well beyond South Africa,” he added.
Other investors that participated include new investors Breyer Capital, HOF Capital, The Raba Partnership, 4DX Ventures and TO Ventures; and existing investors Partech, Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures, Orange Ventures and Quona Capital. Current and former executives from global tech companies such as Coinbase, Revolut, Spotify and Gojek took part.
There are three core enablers to Yoco’s thriving business, Wazen pointed out. First is its product capabilities, second is its platform, and third is its market presence. This investment will be there to accelerate all three. Yoco is transitioning from a pure payment acceptance play into a complete financial ecosystem on the product side. The platform play will see Yoco continue integrating and taking advantage of regulatory easing vertically, and Yoco is deepening its market presence in South Africa.
While Wazen believes Yoco has barely scratched the surface in South Africa, he’s looking forward to replicating its growth in other parts of Africa and the Middle East. With over 100 million SMEs transacting in cash across both regions, Yoco plans to reach at least a million within the next four years.
To accomplish this, Yoco is increasing its team by 200 people remotely and across its offices in Cape Town and Amsterdam within the following year. The company is also tapping into a current trend that has seen African soonicorns and unicorns hire former top employees from global companies to scale theirs to new heights. While it doesn’t mention names, some of Yoco’s new hires include a former VP of product at Monzo, a former product marketing director at Paypal and a former head of communications at Uber. The company has also brought on board a new chairman, Juan Fuentes, the former managing director of fintech unicorn Pagseguro.
– Inclusion Times