Skip to main content

South African fintech startup Jumo raises second $50M+ VC round

South African fintech startup Jumo closed a $55 million round from a diverse group of investors, the company confirmed.

Founded in 2015 and based in Cape Town, the venture offers a full tech stack for partners to build savings, lending, and insurance products for customers in emerging markets.

This week’s funding follows a $52 million raise by Jumo in 2018, led by U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, that saw the startup expand to Asia.

“This fresh investment comes from new and existing…investors including Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management and LeapFrog Investments,” Jumo said in a statement —  though Goldman told TechCrunch its participation in this week’s round isn’t confirmed.

After the latest haul, Jumo has raised $146 million in capital, according to Crunchbase.

With its VC the company plans to move into new markets and launch new products in Asia and Africa.

“I’m excited for our next phase. This backing will help us build a better business and break new ground,”  Jumo founder Andrew Watkins-Ball said.

The company’s products have disbursed over $1 billion loans and served over 15 million people and small businesses, according to Jumo data.

Jumo is active in six markets and plans to expand to two new countries in Africa (Nigeria and Ivory Coast) and two in Asia (Bangladesh and India).

Nigeria in particular has become Africa’s unofficial capital for fintech development, surpassing Kenya in 2019 for drawing the most fintech specific and overall VC on the continent, according to WeeTracker.

Jumo joins a growing list of African digital-finance startups to raise big money from outside investors and expand abroad. A $200 million investment by Visa in 2019 catapulted Nigerian payments firm Interswitch to unicorn status, the same year the company launched its Verge card product on Discover’s global network.

In December, Miga expanded its credit products to Brazil, after the startup grew its lending products in Nigeria. Last month, Nigerian payments firm Paga launched in Mexico.

Jumo’s funding also tracks Goldman Sachs’ growing investment in African startups. The U.S. bank has put several hundred million dollars into ventures on the continent —  from Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia to Nigerian trucking-logistics firm Kobo360.

What we know (and don’t) about Goldman Sachs’ Africa VC investing



from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/395TSOW
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crypto exchange Binance prepares to add margin trading ‘soon’

Binance, the world’s most prominent crypto exchange, says it is close to adding a much-anticipated margin trading feature to its service following weeks of speculation. The company tweeted confirmation of the upcoming feature in a screenshot which subtly teases the imminent arrival of margin trading options. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (pictured above) first revealed that the feature was headed to Binance during a live stream following a hack earlier this month that saw Binance lose around $40 million in Bitcoin . TechCrunch understands that margin trading has been beta tested among selected users. A Binance representative declined to comment on the specifics, but did confirm that margin trading will be available on Binance.com “soon.” Dark mode or Light mode ? #Binance pic.twitter.com/pGSb1np4yp — Binance (@binance) May 24, 2019   Margin trading, which lets traders use their balance as collateral to super-size their buying power, is seen by many as an important growth...
Post a Comment
Read more

World Economic Forum launches Global AI Council to address governance gaps

The World Economic Forum is creating a series of councils that create policy recommendations for use of things like AI, blockchain, and precision medicine. Read More from VentureBeat http://bit.ly/2EKBjD4
Post a Comment
Read more

The hidden cost of food delivery

Noah Lichtenstein Contributor Share on Twitter Noah Lichtenstein is the founder and managing partner of Crossover , a diversified private technology fund backed by institutional investors, technology execs and professional athletes and entertainers. More posts by this contributor What Studying Students Teaches Us About Great Apps I’ll admit it: When it comes to food, I’m lazy. There are dozens of great dining options within a few blocks of my home, yet I still end up ordering food through delivery apps four or five times per week. With the growing coronavirus pandemic closing restaurants and consumers self-isolating, it is likely we will see a spike in food delivery much like the 20% jump China reported during the peak of its crisis. With the food delivery sector rocketing toward a projected $365 billion by the end of the decade, I’m clearly not the only one turning to delivery apps even before the pandemic hit. Thanks to technology (and VC funding) we can get a ri...
Post a Comment
Read more