South Africa-based Yoco has secured a USD 100 million credit facility from US-based Victory Park Capital Advisors to fund merchant advances.
The agreement with Victory Park Capital Advisors is Yoco’s first time raising debt. In an interview with Bloomberg in November 2026, Chief Executive Officer Carsten Höltkemeyer of Yoco said the capital will finance cash advances and other funding for the small businesses that use the company’s payment services. The facility also lets Yoco manage merchant financing at scale and in-house, without relying on third parties to provide the capital.
From partner-led to in-house lending
Since 2018, Yoco has helped more than 40,000 merchants access about USD 394 million in funding, all of it supplied by partners. The new facility changes this. Yoco will now fund advances itself, ranging from about USD 121 to roughly USD 91,000 each. According to Höltkemeyer, merchants typically use the money to hire staff, buy inventory, upgrade equipment, or open new locations.
The financing is delivered through Yoco Capital, which is available to merchants using Yoco’s payment devices. Eligibility is based on each merchant’s live sales data. Pre-approved offers appear in the Yoco app, so there is no separate application. Once a merchant accepts an offer, the money reaches their account immediately. Repayments are deducted automatically from the merchant’s daily takings.
The company designed this model for owner-run businesses. Their operators often have little time to look for finance, may not know how much debt they can manage, or may not apply because they expect to be refused.
Funding gap and investor appetite
Small businesses in South Africa face a financing shortfall of about USD 21.2 billion, according to the Access to Finance report published by aggregator Finfind. Höltkemeyer said these companies often struggle to obtain credit from traditional banks. In the official’s view, offering working capital at scale could help the sector grow.
The deal also shows that international investors remain interested in Africa’s fintech market. As the continent’s technology companies mature, private debt facilities have become a more important source of funding for them. Victory Park manages about USD 3.6 billion in assets and has invested more than USD 12 billion across 260 deals since 2007. Yoco’s earlier funding came from equity: the company raised more than USD 150 million from investors, including TPG and Dragoneer Investment Group.
