The News
Ivorian digital bank Djamo said it now has 1 million active users, four years after it began operations to take on Francophone West Africa’s established commercial banks and mobile money providers.
The Abidjan-based startup, which also operates in Senegal, raised $17 million this month, one of the largest venture capital rounds by an Ivorian startup, from a range of investors including Janngo Capital and Partech. It will deploy the new funding towards expanding on the spending, saving, investing, and borrowing services offered on its mobile app.
Financial services in French-speaking West Africa have long been dominated by banks like Societe Generale, Orange, and Ecobank. But increasing smartphone and internet access have brought competition from upstarts, notably the billion-dollar Senegalese mobile money startup Wave.
Djamo shares at least one investor with Wave — the US startup accelerator Y Combinator — but hopes to better reach underserved customers by providing “access to wealth-building and fair financing opportunities,” its chief executive said.