Djamo, a fast-growing fintech startup based in Ivory Coast, has closed a $17 million funding round to bridge the financial access gap in the region.
Being the largest equity raise ever for an Ivorian startup, this achievement follows a $14 million Series A round in 2022. The Y Combinator-backed fintech is on a mission to make banking more accessible and affordable, and this is just the beginning.
Djamo was co-founded by Hassan Bourgi and Régis Bamba in 2020. Ever since, the company has successfully tapped into the largely underserved populations of Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Unlike its competitors focusing on larger African markets like Nigeria and South Africa, Djamo is carving out a distinct niche in the Francophone market. With over one million customers, the startup is now expanding its service offerings to include savings vaults, investment products, and even salary-linked bank accounts.
Bourgi, who serves as the CEO, shared that Djamo’s valuation has doubled since its last round of funding, although he declined to disclose the precise figure. The company’s vision has always been to create a financial service that bridges the gap between mobile money and traditional banking, offering both accessibility and depth.
In a region where traditional banks are usually inaccessible to the majority, mobile money has become the go-to solution. However, while mobile money has expanded financial inclusion, it still lacks more advanced banking features like credit, investments, or long-term savings—services Djamo now provides.
Bourgi explained the dynamic needs of Djamo’s users, saying, “These users are evolving. But they don’t want to go where their parents went, into institutions with predatory pricing and aren’t adapted to the new generation of customers. And this is what we are building, trying to become the go-to bank for this huge cohort of customers that is evolving now to more complex, wealth-building financing opportunities.”
Since its last round, Djamo has also broadened its service offerings. Beyond simple card payments and peer-to-peer transfers, it now offers brokerage services, enabling users to invest in local markets. As the first fintech in the region to receive a fintech-issued brokerage license, Djamo is uniquely thriving in the financial services space.
While Djamo has attracted a growing number of banked users who treat it as a secondary account, it is the unbanked segment that presents the most significant long-term potential. In fact, over 55% of Djamo’s customer base falls into this category, and nine in ten of those using Djamo as their primary financial account come from this group.
However, reaching these unbanked users comes with its own set of challenges. To address this, Djamo has adopted a hybrid approach, combining its app with offline agents who meet customers in person to facilitate transactions—much like the mobile money model used across Africa.
One of the next steps for Djamo is expanding its customer base to include salary earners. Currently, only 5-10% of users receive their salaries through the app. Bourgi aims to increase this figure, with a goal of having 50% of its user base receiving direct salary deposits into Djamo.
Simultaneously, Djamo is enhancing its services for small businesses, which make up a growing segment of its customer base. Many of these businesses started as retail users and are now using the platform for bulk payments, payment links, and QR code tools to accept payments.
According to Chief Technology Officer Régis Bamba, Djamo is also exploring additional revenue streams, including lending and earning interest on customer deposits.
Bamba revealed that Djamo’s revenue has grown fivefold since 2022, and it has processed more than $4.5 billion in transactions. With its recent expansion into Senegal, Djamo now competes in a market dominated by Wave, another mobile money giant in the region.
However, Djamo isn’t positioning itself as a direct competitor but as a complementary service, offering users advanced financial tools that Wave and other mobile money platforms lack.
The startup’s latest funding round, led by Janngo Capital, will further ensure its expansion across Francophone Africa. Fatoumata Bâ, the founder of Janngo Capital, highlighted the impact of Djamo’s work, particularly in closing the gender gap in financial access.
“In a region where fewer than 25% of adults have access to formal financial services, and where women are twice as likely to be excluded, this is a vital mission. With women making up a third of its users, Djamo is not only closing the gender gap but unlocking economic opportunity at scale.”
