Jambo raises $7.5M to build web3 ‘superapp’ of Africa

African web3 startup Jambo announced today that it has raised $7.5 million in new funding to build out its pioneering web3 “superapp” of Africa.

Investors in the seed round included 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.

Founded in late 2021, Jambo pitches its app as holding the potential to improve Africa’s educational and economic prospects dramatically through access and opportunities enabled by digital assets. The Jambo application empowers users to access a secure, international and trustless financial infrastructure to foster greater financial inclusion in the continent.

Initially, the app includes games in which users can engage with play-to-earn initiatives. From there, Jambo plans to offer access to decentralized finance services, from currency exchanges and remittances to yield-bearing assets.

Underpinning the company’s mission is that Africans are said to be well-versed in smartphones and crypto adoption is surging on the continent, making the Jambo app an intuitive and familiar inroad to the opportunities inherent in web3.

From the start of this year, Jambo has already signed up more than 12,000 students across 15 countries to complete a curated web3 curriculum, both online and offline. It enables students to explore opportunities in play-to-earn gaming and DeFi. The programs are available at colleges and across 600-plus physical partner locations.

Jambo claims that with nearly 60% of the population of Africa under 24 years of age and almost 50% of university graduates on the continent unemployed, connecting them to these educational opportunities could lead to financial prosperity in ways Africans could never have accessed before.

“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,” James Zhang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Jambo, said in a statement. “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.”

Image: Jambo