Fibertime Group Proprietary Limited

A local Spaza Shop in Kayamandi, embedding the fiberime™ brand into the lifestyle of the local community.

In brief

Fibertime Group is the parent company of Fibertime and Vulacoin. Fibertime provides a pay-as-you-go model of affordable and uncapped time-based open-access aerial fibre internet. Vulacoin provides a gateway for internet services providers to initiate micro digital payments at low costs for users to purchase internet and offer additional services through digital means. With Finnfund ‘s investment, Fibertime Group will expand their operations into new townships in South Africa and software development.

Main development impact

Approximately 14 million (80% of the total) homes in South Africa remain unserved by fast and affordable internet. The traditional post-paid suburban FTTH (Fiber-to-the-home) model targets high LSM (Living Standards Measure) customers with long-term fixed contracts to guarantee revenue. This results in a high-cost post-paid model wholly unsuitable for township fibre, perpetuating South Africa’s digital inequality. Fibertime's prepaid fibre connection enables cheaper, faster, and more reliable internet connection for people living in townships.

Investment details

Name: Fibertime Group Proprietary Limited
Project number: 80000450
Region: Africa
Country: South Africa
Sector: Digital infrastructure and solutions
Signing date (month/year): November 2023
Currency: EUR
Finnfund's financing (commitment): 2,000,000
Instrument: Equity
Size of the project financing: EUR 11,200,000
Share of Finnfund's financing (%): 18 %
Status: Active

Please note, that in principle, this information is given at the time of signature according to Finnfund's disclosure policy. However, in the case of investment funds, the share of Finnfund’s financing (%) is disclosed after the fund’s final closing, and information on the portfolio companies financed by the fund is updated at least once a year.

November

Key facts

Name:

Fibertime Group Proprietary Limited

Sector:

Digital infrastructure and solutions

Region:

Africa

Country:

South Africa

Currency:

EUR

Finnfund's financing (commitment):

2,000,000

Signing date (month/year):

November 2023

Last update:

December 2023