TymeBank, a South African digital bank backed by China\u2019s Tencent Holdings Ltd., is raising $150 million (R2.7 billion) to build scale as it prepares for an initial public offering, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Coenraad Jonker said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are currently valued at close to $1 billion and busy with our series D capital raise at unicorn valuation,\u201d said Jonker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur target is to list TymeBank in New York by 2028, and we will most likely also do a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for our South African shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonker said the digital bank controlled by African billionaire Patrice Motsepe\u2019s African Rainbow Capital expects to complete the round by the fourth quarter to fund expansion plans, such as TymeBank\u2019s move into Indonesia by year-end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
TymeBank is now one of the fastest-growing digital banks in Africa, said Jonker, and follows a similar business model to Brazil\u2019s Nu Holdings Ltd., that also counts Tencent as a shareholder, and listed in New York in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The digital bank started in South Africa in 2019 and now controls 10% of the primary bank market share in Africa\u2019s most developed economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
TymeBank has gone head on with incumbent banks in the country, such as Africa\u2019s biggest bank Standard Bank Group Ltd., and FirstRand Ltd.\u2019s First National Bank, and is now the third largest and fastest growing lender by customer numbers, said Jonker.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From its home base in South Africa, which became profitable for the bank in 2023, Jonker said he plans to focus on expanding its markets in fast-growing Asian countries and already has operations in the Philippines and Vietnam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonker wants to reach profitability in the Philippines in the next 18 months and provide a full retail-banking proposition in Vietnam by next year, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n