Enza Capital, Oikocredit and Partech Africa have co-led a $14m equity investment round in Djamo, a Y Combinator-backed fintech building the leading personal finance company in Francophone Africa.
Janngo Capital, P1 ventures, Axian, Launch Africa and other existing investors also participated in the round.
This investment is the largest-ever equity round for a startup in Côte d’Ivoire, Djamo’s home market.
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“Francophone Africa offers a large integrated market, with a fast-growing demand for frictionless services from a new cohort of digital-native young adults” said Tidjane DEME, General Partner at Partech.
“We are excited to join forces with high caliber local investors who bring sector and regional expertise to enable Djamo to unlock this opportunity”.
This fresh injection of capital will allow the company to expand to new markets and continue building a full suite of personal finance services to further empower its customers across the region.
Djamo’s mission is to address a clear problem in West Africa where less than 25% of adults have bank accounts.
The two co-founders, Regis Bamba and Hassan Bourgi, decided to build Djamo because they were determined to enable access to simple, affordable and mobile first banking for the hundreds of millions living in the region.
Co-founder and CPO, Regis Bamba emphasized that Djamo’s goals are very aligned with the needs of its customers: “In our region, users pay amongst the highest fees in the world but do not always receive adequate service in return and that can be extremely frustrating. The one thing that we want to achieve is to offer a product where customers get real value for their money. We have attracted more than 500,000 customers and our rapid organic growth is a testimony to that, they just love the product and tell everyone about it.
“Hassan, Regis, and the Djamo team are redefining how consumers across Francophone Africa manage their financial lives. Driven by relentless user focus, unparalleled customer service, and a world-class product, Djamo is already providing a vastly superior user experience” said Mike Mompi Managing Partner at Enza Capital.
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Djamo partners with regional banks to offer a frictionless mobile-first service, delivering a Visa card within two days of creating an account without any monthly fees or overdraft charges.
Innovating at a rapid pace, the company has rolled out 3 additional services this year, all driving clear customer value: virtual accounts, automatic saving and a product to receive salaries, complementing the existing local and cross border payment offer available with the App and card.
“Many fintechs have emerged lately in Francophone Africa thanks to an increasingly friendly fintech regulatory landscape enabling innovation while protecting customers. The central bank now has a dedicated bureau for fintechs, which demonstrates how much they believe fintechs can play a key role in reshaping financial inclusion,” said Hassan Bourgi, co-founder and CEO of the company.
“Djamo’s mission to provide affordable financial services to the unbanked population using fintech is well aligned with Oikocredit’s goals of maximizing social impact with our investments” said Prevost Kla, Responsible for Equity Investments in West Africa.
