Tyme Group, a South African-born fintech operating in Africa and the Philippines, has secured $250 million in a Series D funding round, raising its valuation to $1.5 billion.
The round was led by Nu Holdings, the parent company of Nubank—Latin America’s most valuable fintech—which invested $150 million for a 10% stake. Additional contributions came from M&G Catalyst Fund with $50 million, while existing shareholders provided the remaining $50 million.
The investment marks a significant milestone for Tyme Group, which focuses on building accessible digital financial services in emerging markets.
Founded in 2019, the Singapore-headquartered Tyme Group operates a hybrid digital banking model, combining online services with physical touchpoints to reach underserved populations. This model has enabled the company to grow quickly across two key markets: South Africa and the Philippines.
In South Africa, TymeBank has emerged as a major player with 10 million users, driving the company’s rapid expansion. Meanwhile, GoTyme, launched in the Philippines in 2022 in partnership with local conglomerate Gokongwei Group, has attracted 5 million users within two years. Across both markets, Tyme has successfully raised over $400 million in customer deposits and extended $600 million in financing to small businesses, positioning itself as a key driver of financial inclusion.
Tyme’s growth strategy is now shifting towards Southeast Asia, with plans to enter Vietnam and Indonesia in 2025. These markets present significant opportunities, as they share similar dynamics with Tyme’s existing regions, such as large unbanked populations, growing smartphone penetration, and increasing demand for accessible financial products.
The latest funding round brings Tyme’s total fundraising to nearly $600 million, signaling renewed investor confidence in fintechs after a period of slowdown caused by rising global interest rates. The company now joins Nigeria’s Moniepoint as one of the few African fintechs to achieve unicorn status this year.
For Nubank, this investment represents a strategic effort to diversify geographically and tap into new growth opportunities beyond Latin America. While Nubank dominates its home markets in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, where it serves over 100 million customers, competition is intensifying. Rivals like Neon and C6 Bank are aggressively expanding, challenging Nubank’s market share.
By investing in Tyme, Nubank is extending its influence into Africa and Asia—regions where digital financial services remain underpenetrated. These markets offer an opportunity to replicate Nubank’s proven playbook in environments with similar challenges, such as low banking penetration and the rise of mobile financial services.
David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, emphasized Tyme’s potential in a statement:
“Since the beginning of Nubank, we have believed that the future of financial services globally is of digitally-native companies. We have met dozens of teams across different geographies, and we think that Tyme Group is extremely well-positioned to be one of the digital bank leaders in Africa and Southeast Asia. We are excited to work with Tyme to share many of our learnings of scaling this model to hundreds of millions of customers.”
Tyme remains majority-owned by Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (ARC), which retains a 40% stake in the company. Its chairman, Coen Jonker, has also outlined ambitious plans for a New York public listing by 2028, with a secondary listing in South Africa.
For emerging markets, Tyme’s hybrid banking model represents a successful approach to bridging financial gaps and promoting financial inclusion. Its ability to secure significant funding, even in a challenging global investment climate, underscores investor optimism about the scalability of digital banking solutions in underserved regions.
Nubank’s investment in Tyme further highlights how fintechs are leveraging strategic partnerships to expand globally, particularly in regions where demand for accessible financial services continues to rise.
As fintechs like Tyme and Nubank explore new frontiers, their ability to adapt proven digital banking models to local markets will play a critical role in reshaping financial ecosystems in Africa, Asia, and beyond.
