Jambo, a Congo-based startup building a web3 super app for Africa, announced that it has raised $7.5M in seed funding.
The round saw participation from leading investors including Delphi Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, 3 Arrows Capital, Alameda Research, AllianceDAO, Tiger Global, DeFiance Capital, Hashed, Polygon Studios, UOB, Signum Capital, BH Digital, Yield Guild Games, and others.
The funding will enable Jambo to develop and improve its operations and test the all-in-one education, play-to-earn, and digital wallet app that’s will go live this year.
Founded by brother-sister duo
Jambo is the brainchild of Alice and James Zhang a brother-sister duo hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Zhang family has dealt in international business in the region for three generations —mainly investing in local infrastructure that helps develop local rural communities.
James Zhang, co-founder, and CEO of Jambo, says, “Jambo aims to empower and bootstrap the continent by offering education and earning opportunities. We have the long-term vision of realizing financial prosperity for billions across the continent and are committed to fostering the next generation of Web3 innovators, builders, and creators. Jambo serves as the gateway to Web3, but it is so much more than that. By aggregating these critical services in one ‘superapp,’ we aim to change the lives of billions.”
One-stop destination
Jambo is building the web3 super app of Africa that will both bank and entertain the continent. The app is a one-stop destination for multiple services such as ride-hailing, banking, communication, and food delivery.
The company wants to introduce young Africans to Web 3 financial ecosystems through play-to-earn gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi) services including currency exchanges and remittances.
Offers curated Web3 curriculum
To date, over 12,000 students across 15 countries have signed up already to complete a curated Web3 curriculum, both offline and online.
This will lead the next generation of Africans into Web3 — providing them with an opportunity to join the “Internet of Value,” says the company.
The program will begin with financialised games, where users can engage with play-to-earn initiatives.
From there, Jambo will offer access to decentralized finance (DeFi) services, from currency exchanges and remittances to yield-bearing assets.
These programs are available at colleges and across 600+ physical partner locations.
“With nearly 60% of the population under 24 years of age and nearly 50% of university graduates in Africa unemployed, connecting them to these educational opportunities could lead to financial prosperity in ways Africans could never have accessed before,” writes Jambo
“We believe the Jambo ecosystem will create a net positive inflow of value to local economies and leapfrog the future of innovation in Africa and we couldn’t be more excited to support Jambo along their journey!” added Kyle Davis, Co-Founder, Chairman of Three Arrows Capital.
