South African fintech company Ozow raises R746 million — with Tencent as a lead investor

South African fintech company Ozow has raised $48 million (R746 million) in a Series B funding round, which was led by Chinese internet and technology giant Tencent.

The latest investment round also included Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor Harvest Fund.

Ozow was co-founded by Thomas Pays, Mitchan Adams, and Lyle Eckstein started in 2014 and was initially known as i-Pay.

Ozow has developed and operates an online automated Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payment gateway in South Africa and Namibia.

In March 2020, the company reached R10 billion transactions processed and continued its rapid growth over the last eighteen months, with 100% year-on-year growth.

“We’re continuing to scale rapidly, processing over $100 million [R1.5 billion] in transaction volumes monthly across a network of thousands of merchants,” Ozow said.

“Our user base also continues to see increased growth, with more than 120,000 users joining the platform each month.”

Pays said the latest funding round would help Ozow to continue its strong growth. This growth includes developing new products and expanding into Africa.

“To help us achieve all of this, we’re also placing a strong focus on strategic investments that include mergers and acquisitions,” said Pays.

“Our mission has always been to develop innovative payment solutions that enable millions of businesses and consumers to participate in our growing digital economy.”

“Our Series B funding round helps to fuel our rocket ship, as we continue to play our part in transforming the way people pay and get paid.”

Now read: No fraud on Instant EFT since launch in 2014 – Ozow