African Crypto Startup Raises $30 Million To Build A Web3 WeChat For The Continent

In the past year, play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity have transformed the livelihoods of thousands of people, particularly in developing nations of Southeast Asia, where high unemployment combined with widespread smartphone penetration have led those struggling during the pandemic to look for an alternative source of income. With Axie, all it took was a smartphone, an internet connection, and a few extra hours.

That success story is not lost on James, 26, and Alice Zhang, 30, founders of up-and-coming cryptocurrency startup Jambo (the word means “hello” in Swahili). Natives of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the siblings started the company six months ago with the aim of bringing Web3, a blockchain-based version of the internet, to Africa. But their ambitions are much bigger than just gaming – they want to create a hub for Africa’s entire digital economy.

“We hope to become the super app of Africa, similarly to what WeChat has done in China in the last decade,” says James.

To that end, the company has revealed exclusively to Forbes the completion of a $30 million Series A funding round led by crypto-focused venture firm Paradigm. It is Paradigm’s first investment in the continent. Other high-profile investors in the round include Pantera Capital, Delphi Ventures, Kingsway Capital and Gemini Frontier Fund. The announcement comes quickly on the heels of Jambo’s $7.5 million seed round raised from Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research and Tiger Global, among others.

“Axie has been a really good example of how you can onboard a region through play-to-earn,” says Paradigm’s investment partner Casey Caruso, who has also helped the firm’s investment into Axie Infinity’s creator Sky Mavis. “We think of play-to-earn as just the beginning for Africa and specifically the beginning for Jambo.”

With its young population (70% of sub-Saharan Africa is under the age of 30), ever-growing smartphone penetration and third-fastest growing cryptocurrency economy, according to blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, the market opportunity is massive.

Being a super app means becoming a one-stop-shop for everything crypto. So while Jambo is testing about a dozen play-to-earn games including Axie Infinity that could meet local data bandwidth among other considerations, the startup is also working on a non-custodial wallet, which will allow users to send and swap cryptocurrencies as well as yearn yield on their holdings. Planned for launch in the third quarter of this year, it has locked in over 30,000 signups.

Zhang says many technicalities, such as the details of Jambo’s own token which will likely hit the market along with the main product, still need to be resolved, but points out that the wallet is being developed on Polygon, a prominent scaling layer for Ethereum. Polygon’s cofounder and CEO Sandeep Nailwal and the project’s gaming and NFT arm, Polygon Studios, contributed to Jambo’s seed financing round.

Aside from developing the product suite, these funds are helping the company expand its geographic footprint on the continent. In the past months, the founders have gathered a 100-member team and opened offices in 15 countries including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, where Jambo is partnering with thousands of internet cafes and college booths to improve student access to computers and high-speed internet and its ambassadors are offering 10-week courses on Web 3. By the end of this year, the firm hopes to establish a presence in 15 additional cities with the goal of having over 200,000 active community members.

Additionally, in the spirit of WeChat’s parent company, Tencent, which has reportedly invested in more than 800 companies, Jambo is launching the AfricaDAO investment fund to index crypto development on the continent. “We want to empower and invest in startups who share in our vision and mission to positively impact the lives of millions across Africa for decades to come,” Zhang says.