#63: Yoco - How the South African FinTech is scaling Point-of-Sale and other payment solutions to merchants across Africa

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Yoco, the South African Point-Of-Sale FinTech company. We’ll explore the story across the following areas:

South African payments context

Yoco’s early history

Yoco’s Product & monetization strategy

Yoco’s Competitive positioning & potential exit options

Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Apr 9, 2023

Companies discussed: Yoco, Square, Flutterwave, PayFast, PayThru, PayU, DPO, Flutterwave, Paystack, Stripe, Ikhokha, MTN, Safaricom, Zapper, Visa, Interswitch, Nedbank, ABSA, FNB (First National Bank South Africa) & Wave

Business concepts discussed: Merchants solutions, Points-of-Sale devices, SME Lending & hardware and software bundling

Conversation highlights:

(01:30) - Yoco context

(07:30) - Africa / SA payments context

(23:11) - Yoco Founding Story and Founders’ background

(40:45) - Fundraising and Growth

(51:52) - Partnerships, Acquisitions, and Team

(59:20) - Key metrics

(1:02:16) - Product Strategy

(1:19:42) - Monetization strategy

(1:30:50) - Competition

(1:36:42) - Options for exit

(1:49:06) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook

(1:57:01) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

(2:07:14) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: I released my book called Firedom = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. It was an incredible journey to get it out and I’m very excited about it. I think many people will really enjoy it. You can buy the audiobook, ebook or print here. Here's an excerpt from the full blog post announcement:

Book Creation context: Around the end of 2022, I made a new friend when I met Samon, we instantly got along because we shared a lot in common: African immigrants who moved to America/Europe, worked in Management consulting and are in love with personal finance. We decided to embark on a project together and write a financial independence book we are calling Firedom!

What is Firedom book about? Living life intentionally + Personal finance + Financial independence + Personal Development + Freedom + Exploring your own unique path in life + Life adventures of two African immigrants

Who is it for? Underdogs, outsiders, expats, nomads, minorities, immigrants interested in :

Living their lives more intentionally to achieve Financial Independence

Learning about people's life stories (turning points, challenges, flameouts, etc)

Changing their mindset and psychological relationship with wealth

Recommendation: Owl City - Unbelievable. I love the song so much because it reminds me of adventures and experiences growing up

Recommendation: Good Hair - Documentary by Chris Rock. Good shit. Reduced my ignorance level about African women hair

Small win: Virgin Voyages cruise - First ever cruise. Very cool.

Small win: No scrubs Karaoke on cruise. Too much fun. It was an experience.

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: Economist Article on Nitrogen & Asake - 2:30

Small win: Moderating a panel at the Harvard Business School Africa Business Conference

Other content: The Prosperity Paradox by Efosa Ojomo, Karen Dillon, Clay Christensen, Adyen pricing page & PayFast pricing page

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email [email protected] with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at [email protected]

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at [email protected]

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