by Staff Writer
US-based Quona Capital, which is a manager of the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund worth $141 million and Netherlands-based Velocity Capital sees value in South Africa’s fintech start-up, Yoco.
Both fintech-focused institutional investors have invested an undisclosed amount into Yoco and the funding details were scant.
Yoco said the new capital will help it to grow its national footprint, launch new fintech services and lay the groundwork for international expansion in 2018.
Yoco, which competes with Standard Bank-owned Snapscan and iKhoka, enables SMEs to accept card payments and provides card readers, and free point-of-sale and business intelligence tools to its 6 500 South African merchants.
It claims to currently process over R1 billion transactions annually.
The company, says CEO and co-founder Katlego Maphai, aims to become the leading SME brand in Africa, and this round of funding will enable it to build the foundations it needs to achieve that goal.
“This round is a vote of confidence in South Africa’s growing fintech and startup ecosystem. Raising smart capital from seasoned fintech investors will enable us to continue our self-directed journey to grow the SME payments markets through world-class execution, delivered with radical simplicity.”
The company, which was founded in 2013 by Katlego Maphai, Carl Wazen, Bradley Wattrus and Lungisa…