Djamo wants to expand its fintech super app across Francophone Africa

In Francophone Africa, less than 25% of adults have bank accounts, as the focus for banks remains the top 10-20% wealthiest customers. Djamo, the first YC-backed company in the region is providing financial services for the underserved gap.

"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.

Ivorian fintech startup, Djamo has secured $14 million in an equity round to continue building a full suite of financial services and expand to new markets in the region. The $14 million investment round was co-led by Enza Capital, Oikocredit and Partech Africa, with participation from Janngo Capital, P1 ventures, Axian, Launch Africa and other existing investors.

With this investment, the company intends to expand to new markets and continue building a full suite of personal finance services to further empower its customers across the region. Currently, Djamo has registered over 500,000 customers, a more than 5x increase from the 90,000 customers the fintech had onboarded as of February 2021.

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"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," Djamo's Co-founder and CPO, Regis Bamba.

Djamo partners with regional banks to offer a frictionless mobile-first service, delivering a Visa card within 2 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.

According to Hassan Bourgi, co-founder and CEO of the company said that "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."

This investment is reportedly the largest-ever equity round for a startup in Côte d’Ivoire, Djamo's home market.