Tyme Group, the major shareholder of GoTyme Bank, announced that it has achieved unicorn status after securing a total of $250 million in new money leading to a post-money valuation of $1.5 billion.
Nubank, a New York Stock Exchange listed digital bank with 110 million customers and a market capitalization of over $57 billion, led the Series D capital raise with a $150-million investment, with M&G’s Catalyst Fund subscribing for $50 million.
Existing shareholders, including the Gokongwei Group, Tencent, British international Investment (BII), Norrsken 22, Blue Earth, Lavender Hill, Ethos Fund, and Africa Fig Tree (Founders and Employees), are investing a further $50 million.
Nu’s investment in Tyme Group is expected to benefit GoTyme Bank Philippines and TymeBank South Africa, bringing not only capital to support growth but also expertise in lending solutions n.
“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,” said Nu founder and CEO David Vélez.
“We are excited to work with Tyme to share many of our learnings of scaling this model to hundreds of millions of customers.”
Coen Jonker, Tyme Group founder and CEO, shares his thoughts on the strategic partnership, “Nubank revolutionized financial services, and having them as a shareholder will help accelerate the development of our strategic capabilities, execution, and expansion plans in Southeast Asia, through their investment of financial resources and counsel. This is a moment of great significance for Tyme Group.”
GoTyme Bank, the fastest-growing bank in the Philippines, was recently ranked number one in customer experience in two independent surveys, namely, the Singapore Economic Development Board’s and Forrester’s.
GoTyme Bank CEO Nate Clarke shares his excitement with the Nu investment, “From the first meeting with David and Nu over a year ago, there has been great strategic and cultural alignment between the two teams. We believe this partnership accelerates our path to becoming the largest and most loved retail bank in the Philippines.”
Lance Gokongwei, JG Summit president and CEO, added: “We are excited with the partnership with Nubank, a global digital banking leader, as we believe this collaboration will further propel GoTyme Bank in the Philippines as well as accelerate Tyme Group’s growth and expansion across multiple markets.”
