South African fintech startup Jumo closed a $ 55 million round with a diverse group of investors, the company confirmed.
The Cape Town-based company, founded in 2015, offers partners a comprehensive tech stack that enables them to develop savings, credit and insurance products for customers in emerging markets.
This week's funding follows a $ 52 million donation from Jumo in 2018, led by U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, which saw the startup expand into Asia.
"This new investment comes from new and existing … investors like Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management and LeapFrog Investments, ”said Jumo in a statement – although Goldman theinformationsuperhighway said his participation in the round this week has not been confirmed.
According to Crunchbase, Jumo raised $ 146 million in capital after the last shipment.
With the VC, the company plans to open up new markets and launch new products in Asia and Africa.
"I look forward to our next phase. This support will help us build a better business and break new ground," said Jumo founder Andrew Watkins-Ball.
According to Jumo data, the company's products have disbursed over $ 1 billion in loans and served more than 15 million people and small businesses.
Jumo is active in six markets and plans to expand into two new countries in Africa (Nigeria and Ivory Coast) and two in Asia (Bangladesh and India).
According to WeeTracker, Nigeria in particular has developed into Africa's unofficial capital for fintech development and in 2019 surpassed Kenya to draw the most fintech-specific and overall VC on the continent.
Jumo joins a growing list of African digital finance startups to raise a lot of money from external investors and expand abroad. A Nigerian payment company Interswitch catapulted a $ 200 million investment by Visa in 2019 In the same year, the company introduced its Verge map product to Discover's global network.
In December, Miga expanded its credit products to Brazil after the startup expanded its credit products in Nigeria. The Nigerian payment company Paga started in Mexico last month.
Funding from Jumo also tracks Goldman Sachs' growing investments in African startups. The US bank has invested several hundred million dollars in companies on the continent – from pan-African e-commerce company Jumia to Nigerian truck logistics company Kobo360.
