South African Fintech Yoco Makes First Major Acquisition, Bets on AI-Powered Commerce Future

By Francisca Anuforo,

South African fintech company Yoco has made its first major acquisition since launching more than a decade ago, acquiring local artificial intelligence platform Dyner.AI in a strategic move that signals growing convergence between fintech and AI-powered business operations.

The acquisition, completed for an undisclosed amount, positions Yoco to deepen its ambitions beyond payments and point-of-sale services as it builds what it describes as an integrated smart commerce platform for small businesses.

Founded in 2013, Yoco has grown into one of South Africa’s most valuable fintech firms, with an estimated valuation exceeding R12.2 billion. The company currently serves more than 200,000 merchants across the country.

The Dyner.AI acquisition marks a significant shift in Yoco’s growth strategy.

“This is a very meaningful strategic move and reflects our strong belief in the role AI will play in the future of commerce software,” Wazen said.

While Yoco has undertaken smaller acquisitions in the past, he noted that the Dyner transaction stands apart in both scale and strategic importance.

Dyner.AI was founded by actuaries Thalentha Ngobeni and Chris du Plessis and developed an AI operating system designed specifically for restaurants and independent businesses.

The platform helps businesses manage operations, generate insights and improve efficiency using intelligent software tools.

Among its local customers is Plato Coffee.

According to Yoco, Dyner represents a strong example of AI-native innovation emerging from South Africa’s technology ecosystem.

“A small team creating something genuinely valuable with traction and customers in a very short period of time,” Wazen said.

The founders’ previous experience at Discovery helped shape the company’s operational and analytical approach.

Ngobeni worked within Adrian Gore’s Office at Discovery, while du Plessis previously worked at Discovery Invest.

Yoco said Dyner will continue operating independently as a subsidiary while progressively integrating its AI capabilities into Yoco’s wider merchant platform.

The partnership is expected to allow Dyner to scale faster using Yoco’s infrastructure, payments ecosystem and customer reach.

“The partnership will allow Dyner to leverage Yoco’s infrastructure, scale and merchant reach to accelerate AI adoption across more than 200,000 merchants and beyond,” the company said.

For small and independent businesses, Yoco argues the integration could reduce operational complexity and unlock access to enterprise-grade technology traditionally reserved for larger organisations.

Dyner founder and former Chief Executive Officer, Thalentha Ngobeni, said the company was built around democratising sophisticated operational tools for smaller businesses.

“We founded Dyner on the belief that independent businesses deserve the same quality of operational technology as large enterprises,” Ngobeni said.

“Joining Yoco gives us the infrastructure, reach and platform to accelerate that vision at a far greater scale.”

The acquisition comes as Yoco undergoes broader strategic transformation.

Earlier this month, the fintech appointed banking executive Carsten Höltkemeyer as its new Chief Executive Officer — the first non-founder to lead the company.

Höltkemeyer previously served as Chief Executive of German financial services company Solaris and brings extensive experience in digital banking and AI integration.

His appointment followed co-founder Katlego Maphai’s decision to step aside from the CEO role while remaining actively involved in company leadership.

Yoco said the leadership transition aligns with its next growth phase as it expands from payments into a more comprehensive commerce ecosystem.

The company is building a unified platform designed to combine payments, point-of-sale technology, business operations software, financial services and AI-enabled tools.

“What drew me to Yoco is both the scale of opportunity and the clarity of its purpose,” Höltkemeyer said following his appointment.

“Independent businesses are the backbone of South Africa’s economy, and Yoco has built something genuinely meaningful in service of them.”

His experience integrating generative AI into financial systems is expected to influence Yoco’s next-generation platform strategy.

“GenAI can help us understand data faster, anticipate customer needs and detect risks more efficiently,” Höltkemeyer said in a recent LinkedIn post.

The acquisition highlights a broader trend reshaping fintech globally, where companies are increasingly combining payments, financial services and artificial intelligence to build intelligent business operating systems rather than standalone financial tools.

For Yoco, the Dyner deal appears to signal a longer-term play — not merely processing transactions, but helping merchants run smarter businesses powered by AI.