Yoco concludes Series-A funding round, plans international expansion

SA payments provider Yoco has recently concluded a Series-A funding round of an undisclosed amount led by two foreign investors namely US-based Quona Capital and Netherlands-based Velocity Capital.

The new influx of capital will help Yoco expand its reach nationally as well as increase its product offering. It’ll also be used to lay the groundwork for its international expansion in 2018.

“In addition to being a milestone and validation for Yoco, this round is a vote of confidence in South Africa’s growing fintech and startup ecosystem,” said Yoco CEO and co-founder Katlego Maphai in a press release to Ventureburn.

“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,” Maphai continued.

Yoco has undergone previous rounds of funding in the form of seed capital and seed investments. This includes the likes of CRE Venture Capital, angel investor Robby Hilkowitz as well as Greg Kidd.

Yoco plans for international expansion thanks to Series-A Funding

What makes this round of funding different from previous iterations? This was the first time the company has raised funds solely from institutional investors.

The payment solution has been receiving high praise from their investors at Quona and Velocity Capital. According to both firms, they’ve chosen Yoco for its world-class platform and team, the investors also believe that it has the ability to be a huge SME driving force in the African economy.

“There is a massive opportunity to expand access to, and the quality of, financial services through the digitisation of SME payments and payments data in Africa, where cash still predominates in many economies,” said Quona Capital co-founder and partner Monica Brand Engel.

“Yoco is a market-maker, growing the size of the card payment acceptance market. Seventy percent of the merchants it currently services had never accepted card payments before Yoco made it possible for them to do so,” concluded the Velocity Capital director Allard Luchsinger.