Transaction Summary
Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. (Finnfund) has made a €2 million ($2.1 million) follow-on equity investment in Fibertime Group Proprietary Limited (Fibertime Group), a South African company providing affordable, high-speed fibre internet to underserved communities. This follows Finnfund’s initial €2 million ($2.1 million) investment in 2023, which secured an 18% equity stake. Founded in 2021 and initially launched as PayGoZo, Fibertime Group rebranded to enhance user experience and focus on community inclusion. The group, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, fibretime™ and VulaCoin, provides uncapped 100Mbps fibre with a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model at R5 per day via fibretime™, while VulaCoin serves as its digital payments platform, facilitating micropayments. The new investment supports Fibertime’s goal of connecting 1.5 million homes over five years with Nokia, its strategic technology provider, using Nokia’s Lightspan FX Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) and Wi-Fi 6-enabled Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). Deployment has begun in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha,
