Ivory Coast Fintech, Djamo, Raises $14 Million to Expand Across Francophone Africa – Currently Has Over 500K Users

Ivory Coast-based consumer fintech, Djamo, has raised $14 million in an investment round led by Ycombinator, Enza Capital, Oiko Credit, and Partech Africa.

Investors in the round include:

• Janngo Capital
• P1 Ventures
• YCombinator
• Enza Capital
• Axian
• Oiko Credit
• Launch Africa
• Partech Africa

Djamo, which is targeting the fintech market in francophone Africa, was the first startup from its country to get accepted into YCombinator, back in February 2021.

The startup provides financial services for the underbanked and unbanked population with a focus on French-speaking markets where fewer than 25% of adults have bank accounts. It leverages the extensive mobile money coverage in francophone countries (60%), building interoperability solutions between banks and mobile money. This way, Djamo users can send money from their mobile money accounts to bank accounts and vice-versa.

Djamo’s main product is a Visa-powered debit card that lets users make online purchases on sites such as Amazon, Alibaba, or Netflix. Other products include virtual accounts for peer-to-peer transactions, a product to receive salaries, and an auto-saving product that offers guidance into customers’ financial goals.

“Before Djamo, it was a real challenge for an average customer to receive salaries digitally because they weren’t integrated into the banking system,” says CEO Hassan Bourgi. Thanks to their platform, companies get to pay salaries to mobile money accounts, empowering personal finance.

“We’re not necessarily trying to digitize cash like mobile wallets. We are here to work on the personal finance side.” – CEO, Djamo

Djamo’s app currently has registered over 500,000 users – a more than 5x increase from the 90,000 customers Djamo had onboarded as of February 2021 – while they have processed more than $400 million since it was started in 2020. The founders also say revenue is growing by 20% to 25% every month due to cheaper costs.

Djamo recently introduced a pricing plan that includes a free option and two premium options with varying services:

• $2/month, and
• $3.5/month

This is cheaper than the prices offered by banks and microfinance institutions.

“The app has been growing organically like crazy and to get such numbers in a market like this within a short period is proof that we’re nailing the overall user experience and building something very relevant for users,” said Chief Product Officer and CTO, Régis Bamba.

The startup plans to expand into two other countries across Francophone Africa before the end of 2023 and also expand product offerings to include investments and lending.

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