South African fintech Yoco looks to scale following $83m Series C round
South African payments and software platform Yoco has landed $83 million in a Series C funding round.
Yoco’s founders
The fintech claims it is the largest ever raise by a payments company in South Africa and brings its total funds raised to $107 million over five rounds. It follows a $16 million Series B round back in 2018.
Among the company’s new investors are Dragoneer Investment Group, which has previously invested in fintech firms Nubank, Square, and Klarna.
Existing investors Partech, Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures, Orange Ventures and Quona Capital also participated, along with Breyer Capital, HOF Capital and 4DX Ventures, among others.
Yoco will use the investment to accelerate its product development and expand its global presence across Africa and the Middle East.
Yoco’s platform is designed to help small businesses facilitate online and in-store payments, with many previously cash-only companies looking to meet the surge in demand for digital payment methods exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm claims to partner over 150,000 small businesses across South Africa, processing more than $1 billion in card payments per year.
Carl Wazen, Yoco’s chief business officer, says: “There are over 6 million small businesses in South Africa and well over 100 million across the Middle East and Africa that still transact only in cash.
“Recent consumer behaviour shows a shift away from cash and businesses have to rapidly adapt to this change. This presents a huge opportunity and it is our mission to support that transition.”
