Gokongwei family-backed GoTyme Bank expects a surge in growth after its parent company, Tyme Group, reached a $1.5 billion valuation.
On Tuesday, Dec. 17, it announced the successful funding round where Tyme Group secured $250 million, with a $150 million investment from Nubank, a major digital bank listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
GoTyme said that the funding will fuel its expansion efforts in the Philippines, allowing the bank to enhance its services and introduce new product offerings to the market.
“We are excited about the partnership with Nubank, a global digital banking leader, as we believe this collaboration will further propel GoTyme Bank in the Philippines as well as accelerate Tyme Group’s growth and expansion across multiple markets,” said Lance Gokongwei, JG Summit president and chief executive officer.
GoTyme, which launched in the Philippines in October 2022, has quickly become the fastest-growing bank in the country.
Nubank's investment in Tyme Group is expected to bring not only financial resources but also invaluable expertise in digital banking, the bank said.
“From the first meeting with David and Nu over a year ago, there has been great strategic and cultural alignment between the two teams. We believe this partnership accelerates our path to becoming the largest and most loved retail bank in the Philippines,” said GoTyme Bank CEO Nate Clarke.
The partnership will enable GoTyme Bank to leverage Nubank's experience in areas such as lending solutions and product innovation to further enhance its offerings to Filipino customers.
David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, highlighted Tyme Group's strong position in the digital banking landscape.
“Since the beginning of Nubank, we have believed that the future of financial services globally is [one] of digitally native companies,” Vélez said. “We have met dozens of teams across different geographies, and we think that Tyme Group is extremely well-positioned to be one of the digital bank leaders in Africa and Southeast Asia. We are excited to work with Tyme to share many of our learnings of scaling this model to hundreds of millions of customers.”
“Nubank revolutionized financial services, and having them as a shareholder will help accelerate the development of our strategic capabilities, execution, and expansion plans in Southeast Asia, through their investment of financial resources and counsel. This is a moment of great significance for Tyme Group,” said Coen Jonker, Tyme Group founder and CEO.
GoTyme Bank's focus on customer experience has been recognized in recent surveys by the Singapore Economic Development Board and Forrester, where it ranked first.