ImpactAlpha, March 2 – Cape Town-based Jumo makes software to help financial services firms and other companies expand lending, savings and insurance products to Africa’s rising consumer class. It raised a combination of debt and equity from impact investor LeapFrog Investments, Goldman Sachs and London-based Odey Asset Management.
The company has partners in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and plans to expand into India, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire this year.
Since launching in 2014, Jumo has scored nearly $150 million in debt and equity from investors.
Global venture capital investors are on an African fintech tear, pouring as much money into digital financial services companies in one week in 2019 as they did in the entire year in 2018. Much of the capital is coming from China’s VC funds.
There is also increasing scrutiny of the sector and its true impact on financial inclusion as consumer debt levels and defaults rise (see, “Investors called to account for fintech lending practices as debt-traps emerge”).
Jumo does not offer its own financial services, but is a signatory of the Responsible Finance Forum’s Guidelines for Responsible Investing in Digital Financial Services.
