# Yoco

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/yoco
> research date 2026-05-29 · extracted at 2026-10-03
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [Yoco — official](https://www.yoco.com/)

## Overview

**Yoco** is **South Africa's largest SME POS + payment + business-funding fintech**, founded **2015** <sup>[1][1], [2][2], [South Africa report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/ZA)</sup>. **Yoco processes US$ billions annually for 300,000+ small businesses** in South Africa.

**Funding scale** <sup>[3][3]</sup>: Yoco has raised **R1.7+ billion total funding** + **$170M from leading institutional investors** — **TPG + Dragoneer + Partech + Velocity + Quona + Raba + 4DX + many more**. Yoco's **Series C funding round worth R1.23 billion** is **the largest single investment ever raised by a South African payments company** + one of the largest in Africa.

**2025 strategic positioning** <sup>[4][4]</sup>: Yoco's transitioning **from card machines to a bigger digital toolkit** for South African SMEs — payments + funding + commerce tools.

**Distinctive Yoco performance metric**: **Merchants using Yoco POS grow revenue up to 500% more** than those who only accept simple card payments <sup>[1][1]</sup>. Yoco data: revenue increases between **32-41% for POS customers**.

## History

**2015 — Yoco founded** <sup>[2][2]</sup> in South Africa.

**2018-2024 — Mass SA SME adoption** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: 200K+ → 300K+ businesses.

**2021-2024 — Major fundraising** <sup>[3][3]</sup>: R1.23B Series C (largest SA payments fund-raise ever); R1.7B+ cumulative.

**2025 — Strategic shift from card machines to bigger digital toolkit** <sup>[4][4]</sup>.

## Ownership & operator

**Operating entity**: **Yoco Technologies (Pty) Ltd**.

**Major investors**: **TPG + Dragoneer + Partech + Velocity + Quona + Raba + 4DX** + many more.

**Co-founders**: **Katlego Maphai (CEO) + Lungisa Matshoba (CTO) + Carl Wazen + Bradley Wattrus**.

**Regulator**: **SARB (South African Reserve Bank)**.

## Technical integration

| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| **Channels** | Yoco POS card reader (Yoco Neo + Yoco Khumo + Yoco Go) + merchant mobile app + Yoco Online (checkout) |
| **Identifiers** | Card number (merchant-side processing) |
| **Customer type** | SA SME (small + medium businesses) |
| **Funding** | Yoco Capital — SME business loans/cash advances |
| **2025+ expansion** | Bigger digital toolkit: payments + funding + commerce tools |

## Users & growth

**2025 baseline** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- **SA businesses served**: 300,000+
- **Annual processing**: US$ billions
- **Revenue impact**: POS customers grow 32-41% (general); 500% more for full-POS adopters vs simple-card-only
- **Cumulative funding**: R1.7B+ ($170M from international institutional investors)

## Use cases

SA SME card-payment acceptance (Yoco Neo + Khumo + Go POS readers); merchant mobile app; online checkout (Yoco Online); Yoco Capital SME business funding / cash advances; growth-analytics for SMEs.

## Implementations & partners

**Operator**: **Yoco Technologies (Pty) Ltd**.

**Major institutional investors**: **TPG, Dragoneer, Partech, Velocity, Quona, Raba, 4DX**.

**Major SA SME-payment competitors**: **iKhokha** (SA SME POS rival), **PayFast**, **Peach Payments** (online-payment gateway), **traditional SA banks SME divisions** (Standard Bank, Nedbank, ABSA, FNB) merchant-acquiring.

**Regulator**: **SARB**.

## Fun facts

- **Founded 2015** as SA's SME POS-payment fintech.
- **300,000+ SA businesses** served (US$ billions annual processing).
- **R1.23B Series C** = largest single investment ever raised by SA payments company.
- **R1.7B+ cumulative funding** + **$170M from TPG + Dragoneer + Partech + Quona + 4DX** + others.
- **500% revenue uplift** for full-Yoco-POS adopters vs simple-card-only.
- **Yoco Neo + Khumo + Go** card reader line.
- **2025 strategic shift** — from card machines to bigger digital toolkit.

## Comparison

| Feature | Yoco | iKhokha (SA SME rival) | [Square](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/square) (US analogous SME POS) | [Stripe](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/stripe) (global analogous developer-first) | [Hala](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/hala) (Saudi SME comparable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | **Yoco (TPG + Dragoneer + Partech + Quona + 4DX backed)** | iKhokha | Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ) | Stripe Inc. | Hala (TPG + Sanabil-backed) |
| Type | **SA #1 SME POS + payment + funding** | SA SME POS rival | US/global SME POS + Cash App | Global online checkout + infra | Saudi SME comprehensive infra |
| Country | South Africa | South Africa | Global | Global | Saudi + UAE |
| Customers | **300K+ SA businesses** | Major SA | Millions SMEs global | B2B (devs + SMB + enterprise) | 140K SMEs |
| Funding distinctive | **R1.23B Series C = largest SA payments raise ever** | Major SA | NYSE-listed | Most-valuable private fintech | Sep 2025 $157M Series B (TPG + Sanabil) |
| 2025+ strategy | **Card machines → bigger digital toolkit** | SA SME POS | Block ecosystem | Stripe Atlas + infra | Saudi SME Stripe-for-MENA |

## Status

**Active, SA's #1 SME POS-payment + funding fintech** <sup>[1][1], [3][3]</sup>:
- **Yoco Technologies (Pty) Ltd** since 2015.
- **300K+ SA businesses + US$ billions annual processing**.
- **R1.7B+ cumulative funding** (largest SA payments fund-raise R1.23B Series C).
- **2025 strategic shift** to bigger SME digital toolkit.
- **SARB-regulated**.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.yoco.com/za/blog/unlocking-sme-growth-south-africa/ "Unlocking SA SME growth — Yoco"
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoco "Yoco — Wikipedia"
[3]: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/yoco "Yoco — Crunchbase"
[4]: https://www.digitalstreetsa.com/yocos-next-growth-phase-from-card-machines-to-a-bigger-digital-toolkit-for-south-african-smes/ "Yoco card machines → digital toolkit — Digital Street SA"
[za-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/ZA

- [1] [Unlocking SA SME growth — Yoco][1]
- [2] [Yoco — Wikipedia][2]
- [3] [Yoco — Crunchbase][3]
- [4] [Yoco card machines → digital toolkit — Digital Street SA][4]
- <sup>[South Africa report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/ZA)</sup> In-corpus: `reports/countries/ZA-south-africa.md`

## Source

Biography extracted from [yoco.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/yoco). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.