Yoco appoints new CEO as fintech eyes next growth phase

Source: Yoco

The company said Höltkemeyer brings experience from fintech and financial services groups, including Solaris, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, with a focus on scaling product-led financial services businesses.

Yoco’s co-founders Lungisa Matshoba and Bradley Wattrus, who served as co-CEOs during the transition period, will return to their previous roles as chief product and technology officer and CFO respectively. Co-founder Carl Wazen will remain chief business officer, while Maphai will continue to support the business on strategy.

In a statement, Höltkemeyer said he was attracted by both the scale of the opportunity and Yoco’s focus on supporting independent businesses in South Africa.

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

The appointment comes as Yoco pushes beyond its original focus on card machines and payments into a broader commerce platform strategy.

Founded in 2015, the fintech said it now serves more than 200,000 merchants, processes around 30 million card taps annually, and has advanced billions of rands in capital to businesses.

The company said its next phase will focus on building an integrated commerce platform combining payments, point-of-sale systems, capital and AI-driven tools in a single ecosystem aimed at helping SMEs grow revenue and streamline operations.

Yoco said founders would remain closely involved in driving product innovation as the business expands its platform ambitions.