Cape Town financial-technology provider Ozow says it plans to hunt for acquisitions as well as start services in Namibia, among three other African countries.
The announcement by the company, which offers a digital-payment gateway, which connects shoppers directly to their bank accounts, comes after Tencent Holdings has invested US$48 million (R745 million).
The Hong-Kong based company is leading a group to invest in Ozow’s fourth round of funding that will help the seven year-old startup expand in Africa and add employees, Ozow’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Pays said.
He didn’t disclose its latest valuation.
“We started engaging with Tencent in March and they understand the scale and opportunity there would be for a company like ours,” Pays said.
Tencent’s investment gives it a stake in a startup that says it controls 70% of all instant, third-party electronic payments done in South Africa.
Ozow is adding 140 000 users and processing US$100 million in transactions every month, said Pays.
The company has six million users.The Brief/Fin24
