Y Combinator-backed Djamo has connect $17 million to make bigger its product suite throughout Francophone West Africa.
The fairness spherical was once led through pan-African VC Janngo Capital. Alternative traders taking part within the spherical come with Enza Capital, Partech, Oikocredit, SANAD Capitaltreasury for MSMEs (controlled through Finance in Movement), and Y Combinator.
The fintech startup will significance the pristine investment to make bigger its product suite for its retail shoppers and the hundreds of miniature companies it has onboarded within the terminating two years.
Djamo, The Virtual Reserve Serving Francophone Africa
Djamo was once based in 2020 through Hassan Bourgi and Regis Bamba as one of the crucial a number of electronic banking startups concentrated on the underbanked in French-speaking African nations. However in contrast to many that target immense markets like Nigeria, Egypt, or South Africa, Djamo has carved out a distinct segment in Francophone West Africa, particularly the Ivory Coast and, extra just lately, Senegal. Its buyer bottom is over 1 million shoppers and 10,000 SMEs throughout each nations.
Conventional banks within the area regularly cater to the prosperous, escape a considerable portion of the crowd reliant on cell cash. Cell cash is a inexpensive mode of the use of telephone numbers to construct monetary transactions, and it’s been instrumental in increasing monetary get admission to throughout Africa.
“This investment is a major step toward our vision of building one of the most iconic financial services platforms in Francophone Africa”, stated Hassan Bourgi, Co-founder & CEO of Djamo. “Millions of people in our region remain underserved by traditional banks or stuck in mobile money ecosystems without access to wealth-building and fair financing opportunities. We are committed to providing them with seamless, affordable, and innovative banking that truly meets their needs.”
Consistent with the World Bank, as of 2022, 28% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa had a cell cash account, and the area holds greater than part of the arena’s general. However, that exit has additionally created a ceiling.
Maximum cell cash platforms trade in modest services and products like cash-in, cash-out, P2P transfers, and invoice bills. Despite the fact that helpful, they don’t free up extra complex monetary equipment like credit score, investments, or long-term financial savings.
A Hybrid of Cell Cash and Conventional Banking
Djamo is positioning itself as a hybrid of cell cash and conventional banking. The fintech startup deals the accessibility of cell cash with the monetary intensity of a storage account, a related playbook impaired through Softbank-backed OPay and Transsion-owned PalmPay to scale to tens of hundreds of thousands of shoppers in Nigeria.
The founders say it goals a rising area of customers, most commonly more youthful shoppers, who’ve outgrown cell cash wallets however nonetheless to find conventional banks dear, out of date, or inaccessible.
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“These users are evolving,” stated Bourgi. “But they don’t want to go where their parents went, into institutions with predatory pricing and aren’t adapted to the new generation of customers. And this is what we are building, trying to become the go-to bank for this huge cohort of customers that is evolving now to more complex, wealth-building financing opportunities.”
Like many electronic banks, Djamo draws banked customers who deal with it as a secondary account for smoother invoice bills and cell cash integration. On the other hand, the unbanked, who’re tougher to turn on, display higher long-term doable. Those customers, who contain over 55% of Djamo’s bottom, regularly deal with the app as their number one monetary provider.
Bourgi claims 9 in ten customers who depend on Djamo as their primary account come from this area. To achieve extra of them, Djamo combines its app with offline brokers who meet shoppers in individual to facilitate transactions, related to the cell cash fashion now extra extensively followed through fintechs around the continent.
Djamo’s Pristine Investment and Enlargement Plans
Djamo’s founders say the corporate has grown earnings 5x since 2022 and processed greater than $4.5 billion in transactions since founding. They refused to reveal their valuation, however in step with TechCrunch, the startup has doubled because the terminating elevate. This spherical, the biggest ever for an Ivorian startup, surpasses the previous $14 million Series A in 2022.
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“We are thrilled to lead the largest VC funding round in Ivory Coast and double down on Djamo, a mission-driven fintech transforming access to financial services across Francophone West Africa… With women representing a third of its users, Djamo is not only bridging the gender gap but also unlocking economic opportunities at scale. We are proud to support their vision to accelerate access to finance across the region in a more equal way”, stated Fatoumata Bâ, Founder and Government Chair of Janngo Capital.
The pristine capital will permit Djamo to reinforce its platform with best-in-class spending, preserve, making an investment, and borrowing options, turning in a unbroken banking revel in adapted to the wishes of digital-first shoppers.
Co-founder and CTO Regis Bamba provides that the corporate is exploring spare earnings streams, together with lending and incomes curiosity on buyer deposits. The fintech is operating on securing licenses that can permit it to trade in interest-bearing financial savings accounts and credit score merchandise.
As Djamo continues to develop, its luck is a testomony to the viability and virtue of localised fintech answers in using monetary inclusion throughout Africa.
Primary Symbol: Hassan Bourgi and Regis Bamba, Djamo’s co-founders. Symbol Credit score: Djamo
