Digital financial services group Nubank has invested $150-million in Singapore-based financial services firm Tyme's oversubscribed $250-million Series D capital raise, with Catalyst subscribing for $50-million and existing shareholders investing a further $50-million.

With operations spanning Latin America and Europe, Nubank brings substantial resources and significant expertise to its partnership with Tyme’s complementary footprint in Africa and South-East Asia.

“Nubank transformed financial services in Brazil. We are excited by the value that Nubank's thought partnership and advice can bring to Tyme particularly in areas such as data analytics, credit risk management, product development and marketing, which are levers we believe are key to achieving leadership in our markets.

“This is a moment of great significance for Tyme,” said Tyme Group founder and CEO Coen Jonker.

“Since the beginning of Nubank, we have believed that the future of financial services globally is of digitally-native companies,” said Nubank founder and CEO David Vélez.

“We have met dozens of teams across different geographies and we think that Tyme Group is extremely well-positioned to be a digital bank leader 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,” he said.

Tyme, which is headquartered in Singapore, operates two high-growth digital banks, namely TymeBank in South Africa and GoTyme Bank in the Philippines.

TymeBank, which was launched in 2019, has achieved a 29% year-on-year growth rate, while GoTyme, in partnership with the diversified investment holding company Gokongwei Group, has achieved 317% year-on-year growth since its October 2022 launch.

TymeBank has ten-million customers and is the group’s flagship bank and the first digital bank to reach profitability in Africa.

Tyme, which has its roots in South Africa, is one of the fastest growing digital banks in emerging markets, with more than 15-million customers across South Africa and the Philippines.

“This funding will propel our growth strategy by enabling us to realise our stated goal of being a top-three retail bank in South Africa in the next three years,” said TymeBank CEO Karl Westvig.

“Additionally, the enhanced credibility and market visibility that comes with the affiliation with Nubank, along with the large established networks of global investors, helps pave the group’s path towards a potential listing by 2028,” he said.

The transaction will see investment holding company African Rainbow Capital (ARC) remain the largest shareholder in Tyme Group and Apis Growth Fund II will remain the second largest shareholder, with Tyme’s other investors including its founders, The Ethos AI Fund, Tencent, The Gokongwei Group, British International Investment, Norrsken 22, Blue Earth and Lavender Hill Capital Partners.