GoTyme Bank's Major Shareholder Tyme Group Achieves Unicorn Status with Major Investment from Nubank

GoTyme Bank’s major shareholder Tyme Group, the multi-country digital banking group headquartered in Singapore with 15 million customers across Africa and Southeast Asia, announced that Nubank (Nu) led its Series D capital raise. Nu is a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed digital bank with 110 million customers and a market capitalization of over US$57 Billion.

Nu's investment in Tyme Group will benefit GoTyme Bank Philippines and TymeBank South Africa, bringing not only capital to support growth but also expertise in lending solutions and impact product creation.

Having completed its latest investment round, Tyme Group achieved unicorn status after securing a total of US$250 million in new money leading to a post-money valuation of US$1.5 billion. Tyme’s oversubscribed Series D capital raise was led by Nu, which invested US$150 million, with M&G’s Catalyst Fund subscribing for US$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 US$50 million.

The Tyme Group’s partnership with Nu is a vote of confidence from the most successful digital bank in the world with Nu founder and CEO David Vélez sharing the investment rationale, “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. 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. The partnership between Tyme and Nu brings additional resources and expertise to GoTyme Bank, positioning the company to propel its growth.

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, adds, “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.”

Nu is one of the world's largest digital financial services platforms, serving 110 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. It has been leading an industry transformation by leveraging data and proprietary technology to develop innovative products and services. Guided by its mission to fight complexity and empower people, Nu caters to customers’ complete financial journey, promoting financial access, and advancement with responsible lending and transparency. The company is powered by an efficient and scalable business model that combines low cost to serve with growing returns. Nu’s impact has been recognized in multiple awards, including Time 100 Companies, Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and Forbes World's Best Banks.

Tyme is a multi-country digital banking group focused on serving consumers and SMEs in emerging markets. Headquartered in Singapore, with a technology and product development hub in Vietnam, Tyme designs, builds, and operates digital banks, with a particular expertise in emerging markets. Tyme recognizes the unique challenges of banking in emerging markets and leverages technology innovatively, through a high-tech, high-touch approach, to meet the needs of emerging market customers.  Following TymeBank in South Africa, Tyme launched its second digital bank, GoTyme Bank, in the Philippines, in partnership with the Gokongwei Group, in October 2022. Across the Group, Tyme now serves over 15 million customers.

GoTyme Bank, a regulated bank by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is a collaboration between the Gokongwei Group and the multi-country digital banking group Tyme. Powered by the extensive ecosystem of the Gokongwei Group, customers can bank where they shop, eat and relax. Through its award-winning mobile app, kiosk, and debit card, the bank offers products and services built around security, simplicity, and beauty that open up new ways of saving, spending, investing and managing its customers’ money.