Yoco's journey from card machines to full business platform offers lessons for Nigerian fintech

When four co-founders noticed small businesses struggling with card payments in South Africa around 2013, they built Yoco—a simple card machine that evolved into a full business tools platform serving 200,000 SMEs by overcoming banking skepticism and funding hurdles. Launched in 2015 after beta testing, Yoco stripped away complex bank processes, letting merchants sign up quickly for card acceptance.

This matters for Nigeria where many small businesses still face payment barriers; Yoco proves solving specific, ignored problems can build scalable fintechs, and that expanding beyond core payments (to POS, online tools) creates deeper customer value—a model relevant as Nigeria pushes for financial inclusion and digital commerce growth.

With all founders still involved but in different roles, Yoco survived COVID-19 (90% transaction drop), raised over $100M including an $83M Series C in 2021, and expanded services as merchants' needs changed. The key lesson? Start with a razor-focused solution to a real pain point, persist through early rejection, and stay close to evolving customer needs—not just today's payments but tomorrow's business tools.

Will Nigerian entrepreneurs and policymakers study Yoco's playbook to build payment solutions that truly serve local small businesses, or continue copying models that ignore street-level realities?

SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/10/02/yoco-class-of-2016/