The Western Cape has secured a significant vote of confidence from the global fintech sector, with UK-based ClearScore Group announcing the expansion of its Cape Town operations and naming the city its second major tech hub outside London. The move marks a new chapter for the company in South Africa and reinforces the Western Cape’s growing reputation as a destination for globally relevant technology investment.
Located on Loop Street in Cape Town’s CBD, the new headquarters will serve as ClearScore Group’s second major tech hub outside London. The office will support globally strategic engineering, product management and data analyst functions for ClearScore’s international platform, alongside commercial and marketing operations serving the South African market. The company expects to grow its Cape Town team to around 120 employees over the next 12 to 18 months.
The announcement builds on a long-standing relationship between the ClearScore Group and South Africa. The company opened its Cape Town office in 2017, as its first base outside the UK and has since built a successful credit marketplace in the country, becoming the market leader locally. ClearScore reached 6.6 million South African users in February 2026 and is targeting more than 7.5 million by year-end. The business currently drives more than 45,000 credit sales per month, up 70% year on year.
Justin Basini, Co-founder and CEO of the ClearScore Group, said: “South Africa, and Cape Town in particular, has been an important part of the ClearScore growth journey for many years. Cape Town is the first place we opened an office outside the UK, and it has played a central role in our success ever since. As we invest in the next stage of growth, Cape Town is becoming our second major tech hub outside London, with the team here helping build technology that will support our future, including our agentic AI ambitions and wider platform capability. The depth of engineering, product and design talent in the city makes it the right place to build. This investment reflects our long-term confidence in Cape Town and South Africa.”
The expansion has been welcomed by regional leadership as a strong endorsement of the Western Cape’s investment credentials.
Wrenelle Stander, CEO of Wesgro, said: “ClearScore’s decision to deepen its presence in Cape Town is a strong endorsement of the Western Cape as a destination for innovation-led investment. What makes this especially significant is that it is not simply a market-expansion story, but a signal that globally relevant technology can be built from here. That speaks to the growing strength of the province’s tech ecosystem, talent base and long-term investment proposition.”
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said: “The Western Cape’s appeal lies not only in its skills base and digital capability, but in the broader environment it offers businesses and talent. Companies need places where they can grow with confidence, and people want places where they can build careers and quality lives. That combination is increasingly what makes the Western Cape competitive in attracting long-term technology investment and we welcome ClearScore’s growth.”
James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth in the City of Cape Town, said: “Cape Town’s role in this story is clear: we are a city where innovation, infrastructure and real energy come together to create opportunity. ClearScore’s decision to locate on Loop Street is a strong vote of confidence in our CBD and in what we are building here. It tells me that ambitious, forward-thinking companies see Cape Town as a place to collaborate, to scale, and to succeed. This is exactly the kind of investment that reinforces our drive to position Cape Town as a leading business and technology hub.”