TLcom Announces First Investment In South Africa
TLcom Announces First Investment In South Africa. TLcom Capital is proud to announce that it has made its first investment in South Africa, in its new portfolio company Littlefish, a white-label merchant platform for banks and fintech.
TLcom Capital is supporting littlefish’s mission to help banks respond to the growing influence of fintechs and position them to acquire and serve SMEs efficiently. The CEO and Co-Founder, Brandon Roberts highlights the team’s deep interest, expertise, and strategic vision underscoring the team’s commitment to building tailored solutions for clients, marking a unique blend of its vision for this partnership.
TLcom Capital said in a statement, “Littlefish is TLcom’s first investment in South Africa. We met Brandon and his co-founders through the Aspen Network in late 2022. In our early discussions, we were impressed by three things. Firstly, Brandon’s courage and ambition to leave a corporate job in enterprise software to start a high-growth technology venture early in his career. Secondly, the team has a deep understanding of the fintech industry. Their vision to empower banks to counter the rise of fintechs by more efficiently acquiring and better servicing small and medium-sized companies was clear from day one. Finally, Littlefish’s partnership with Visa is significant because it gives the company a major competitive edge by enabling it to launch with solid tie-ins with Visa’s partner banks. Visa has clearly also seen the massive value in the company’s mission and product.”
Africa has over 80 million small and medium-sized companies, which account for over 80% of employment on the continent. Despite their importance to African economies, they are currently not adequately served by either incumbent traditional banks or challenger fintechs. SMEs often struggle to access tailored financial services, and banks offer untailored solutions that largely fail to cater to their specific needs. Littlefish aims to help banks meet the needs of this segment with a comprehensive digital and technology platform that allows a bank’s customer to streamline financial operations, boost sales, secure credit access, and access digital payment processing services. With its technology, the company is driving economic growth and enabling wealth creation for small business owners, the continent’s primary base of economic activity.
“We’re excited about Littlefish for a few reasons. The team is strong and deeply experienced in enterprise software sales and financial services, bringing a track record of building valuable relationships with tier 1 banks across Africa. The Visa partnership – a testament to Brandon’s and the team’s ambition, determination and grit – further strengthens that ability. We find Littlefish’s thesis of enabling banks to respond to competition from fintechs in serving the SME segment compelling. We also see an opportunity for the company’s model to travel beyond Africa, once scale has been achieved here, to serve similar needs in developing economies in the Global South. Backing a bright young team alongside a strong co-investor in Flourish Ventures, we are proud to have Littlefish as TLcom’s first South Africa investment.” the company concluded.
