Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP, a UK-based asset manager, today announces its proposed investment of €29M (US$31M) in Baobab Payments GmbH (trading as Peach Payments), a digital payment service provider that enables online payments in Africa.
Completion of the investment is “subject to the approval of the Competition Commission of South Africa and customary procedural and closing conditions.”
Peach Payments’ existing investors reportedly “include UW Ventures, Launch Africa and AG Ventures.”
Apis Partners “supports growth stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses. Peach Payments is the second largest online payment gateway in South Africa, with activities in Kenya and Mauritius, and a staff complement of nearly 150 international professionals.”
Peach Payments has “experienced exceptional growth in recent years, with revenue increasing more than 650% since 2020, and 80% in 2022 alone.”
The company intends “to use the investment by the Fund to accelerate its expansion across new African markets, to deepen its product offering, and to reinforce its core merchant value proposition.”
Peach Payments is “known for delivering enterprise-grade products, high end-user conversion, best-in-class risk management, and actionable insights, backed by the best customer support experience on the continent, to its merchants.”
Apis Partners will “leverage its deep networks and unique experience in scaling leading payment companies to support Peach Payments’s growth and geographic expansion.”
As an ESGI-native investor, Apis Partners’ sector expertise “will help Peach Payments to maximise financial inclusion by enabling more merchants to participate and grow in today’s increasingly digital global economy.”
Matteo Stefanel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Apis Partners, said:
“We continue to see significant opportunity in African payments as strong secular trends that are not related to annual business cycles – such as the conversion from cash to digital and in-store to online payments – persist across key markets. We have been impressed by the vision and execution of the management team as Peach Payments capitalises on these trends to bring more end-users into the digital economy, a key part of our drive to democratise access across the continent. We look forward to partnering with Peach Payments to expand its reach into new markets with innovative merchant solutions.”
Udayan Goyal, Apis Partners Co-Founder and Managing Partner, said:
“Peach Payments, one of Africa’s most exciting high-growth businesses with a relentless focus on technology and operational leadership, is at the forefront of enabling next-generation payments for merchants across the continent. We are excited to partner with Peach Payments’ fantastic team and look forward to leveraging Apis’ capital, expertise and global network to support new investment in Peach Payments’ infrastructure, products and people to consolidate the company’s recent gains and support the next phase of growth.”