South Africa’s fintech Yoco buys Dyner.AI in first major acquisition     

South African fintech company Yoco has acquired local artificial intelligence platform Dyner.AI in its first major acquisition since launching in 2013. 

The deal value was not disclosed. Yoco, valued at about R12.2 billion ($752 million), said the purchase strengthens its push to build a more integrated commerce system for small and independent businesses. 

Founded by Katlego Maphai, Carl Wazen, Bradley Wattrus and Lungisa Matshoba, Yoco has grown from a card payments startup into a broader financial services provider serving hundreds of thousands of merchants across South Africa. 

Carl Wazen described the acquisition as a deliberate step rather than an opportunistic buy. “This is different in both strategic importance and long-term ambition,” he said, adding that Yoco has made only a handful of acquisitions in its history. 

He said Dyner.AI stood out because it showed what small, locally built AI teams could deliver in a short time. “A small team building something genuinely useful, with early traction and real customers,” Wazen said.

A push toward AI-driven commerce tools 

Dyner.AI was built as an AI operating system designed for restaurants and independent businesses, with early customers including Plato Coffee. The platform focuses on helping merchants manage daily operations, reduce inefficiencies and improve decision-making through software. 

The company was founded by actuaries Thalentha Ngobeni and Chris du Plessis, both of whom previously worked at Discovery Limited in strategy and investment roles. 

Dyner said their background in systems, analytics and operations shaped the product’s focus on practical business needs rather than experimental tools. 

“Their experience across strategy, systems, operations and analytics shaped Dyner’s approach to building intelligent software for the complexity of running restaurants,” the company said. 

Under Yoco’s ownership, Dyner will continue to operate as a standalone team while gradually integrating into Yoco’s broader platform. 

Yoco said the goal is to scale Dyner’s tools across its merchant base of more than 200,000 businesses. 

“For independent businesses, this partnership means access to intelligent tools that simplify operations, surface insights and reduce inefficiencies,” the company said. 

Ngobeni, Dyner’s co-founder and chief executive, said the acquisition expands the company’s reach without changing its core mission. 

“We started Dyner on the belief that independent businesses deserve the same quality of operational tools as large enterprises,” she said. “Joining Yoco gives us the infrastructure and scale to deliver that vision more broadly.”

Leadership changes and platform expansion at Yoco

The acquisition comes as Yoco reshapes its leadership and long-term product strategy. Earlier this month, the company appointed banking executive Carsten Höltkemeyer as chief executive, replacing co-founder Maphai, who stepped aside last year. Höltkemeyer previously led German financial services firm Solaris SE. 

It marks the first time Yoco has been led by a non-founder since its launch. Höltkemeyer said he was drawn to the company’s focus on small business growth and financial access. 

In a statement announcing his appointment, Höltkemeyer said the move was both personal and professional. “After 3.5 transformative years as CEO of Solaris SE in Berlin, I am excited to share that I will be joining Yoco as CEO, based in Cape Town, starting June 1, 2026,” he said. “Leaving Berlin is a big and emotional step — both professionally and personally. But it is one I take with great excitement and deep gratitude.”

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

Yoco said the leadership change reflects its effort to match experience with its next phase of growth, particularly as it builds a unified commerce platform combining payments, point-of-sale systems, financial services and AI tools. 

The company has also been exploring how generative AI can be used in financial services, including fraud detection, customer insights and operational forecasting. 

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

Yoco plans unified SME platform

Yoco says its longer-term plan is to consolidate its product suite into one platform for small and medium-sized businesses. 

The company, founded in 2015 currently helps merchants accept payments, manage sales, access funding and track operations through digital tools. It processes more than $2 billion annually and supports about 200,000 small businesses, employing more than 350 people. 

Backed by investors that have supported firms such as Nubank and Square, Yoco has raised over $100 million since inception. 

While Maphai is stepping back from the chief executive role, he remains involved in the company’s strategic direction alongside the founding team. 

Yoco said the focus now is on strengthening its product ecosystem and expanding access to tools that were once limited to larger enterprises, particularly as AI becomes more embedded in business software.