Baar-Zug, Switzerland, May 23, 2023
Blue Earth Capital (“BlueEarth”), a global impact investment firm, has, through its investment vehicles, invested in Tyme Group (“Tyme”), an emerging market-focused digital banking group providing lower income consumers and small business owners with affordable access to basic financial products and services in South Africa (via Tyme Bank) and the Philippines (via GoTyme).
Globally, c. 1.4 billion adults are unbanked and have no access to formal financial services. While the majority of unbanked individuals reside in Emerging Markets, Africa (45% of population) and Asia (32% of population) have particularly high shares of unbanked individuals.[1] As a result, the unbanked are unable to take advantage of basic economic tools such as savings, credit, money transfers or insurance. This leaves them vulnerable to shocks such as job loss or unsuccessful harvests. Access to financial services would enable them to protect their families, hedge against risks, and invest in their future.
BlueEarth believes that Tyme Group tackles these challenges by (1) providing consumers with improved physical access to financial services via its retail partnership model, (2) providing affordable access to financial services via its cost-leading offering enabling the inclusion of the lowest of income earners into the formal economy, and (3) developing trust in the financial system through an engagement model that is tailored the socio-economic challenges of its customer base.
David Moore, Principal of Funds and Co-Investments at BlueEarth, stated: “We invested in Tyme Group thanks to our long-standing partnership with Apis Partners who look to build on their mission to generate attractive commercial returns alongside key priorities of reduced inequalities and greater financial inclusion. BlueEarth is excited about backing Tyme’s innovative, retail partnership model which enables affordable access to first-class banking products to all consumers, including those most vulnerable or living in remote locations.”
Coenraad Jonker, Co-Founder of Tyme Group and CEO of TymeBank commented: “We are delighted to welcome Blue Earth Capital to the group of high-calibre investors who have bought into Tyme’s growth story, its mission of financial inclusion, and the wealth of leadership talent we have distributed across South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines.”
Matteo Stefanel, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, said: “We are pleased that Tyme continues to attract growth capital from committed, like-minded investors, enabling it to accelerate the expansion across growth markets globally. We have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with BlueEarth and believe they will be an excellent partner going forward, as they share our vision for the business and commitment to generating positive impact by backing growth-stage innovators.
Udayan Goyal, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, added: “The Tyme model ties directly to one of our core investment themes, the democratization of finance; its success to date underscores the fact that the business addresses an underserved market with an innovative solution that has global applicability. We welcome BlueEarth as a shareholder and look forward to working together to support Tyme’s continued growth.
About Apis Partners
The Apis Group (“Apis”) is an ESGI-native global private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of approximately 40 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages or advises on total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of US$1.2 billion. Including its headquarters in London, Apis has representation in eight countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Apis is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in growth markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion is a core tenet of Apis’ approach and investment mandate. Apis became a signatory to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) upon inception of the firm in 2014.
About Tyme Group
Tyme is a multi-country digital banking group, focused on bridging the digital divide in emerging markets, by integrating into physical retail ecosystems. With its global headquarters in Singapore and main development hub TymeX in Vietnam, Tyme designs, builds, and commercializes digital banks for the mass market, with a particular expertise in serving under-served and under-banked populations. Tyme recognizes the unique challenges of digital banking in emerging markets and builds financial education, a high tech – high touch approach, and efficient cash management solutions to meet the needs of the emerging mass market in these countries.
About Blue Earth Capital
Blue Earth Capital is a global, independent, specialist impact investor, headquartered in Switzerland, with operations in New York, London, and Konstanz. Blue Earth Capital seeks to address the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges by delivering measurable impact alongside aiming for attractive and sustainable financial returns. The company operates dedicated private equity, private credit and fund solutions. Blue Earth Capital is owned by the Blue Earth Foundation, a Stiftung (charity/trust with no ultimate owner) registered in Switzerland that focuses on deep impact to support initiatives and business ventures to help deliver a more equitable and sustainable future.
Media contact
Oliver Buckley
Email: Oliver.Buckley@kekstcnc.com
[1] Source: World Bank (2022).