Y Combinator-backed Ivorian financial technology startup Djamo is preparing for a major capital injection.
Y Combinator-backed Ivorian financial technology startup Djamo is preparing for a major capital injection. Co-founders Hassan Bourgi and Régis Bamba announced that the Abidjan-headquartered neobank is targeting a $40 million Series C funding round.
The upcoming capital push is specifically earmarked to entrench operational profitability within its home market of Côte d’Ivoire and aggressively scale its digital banking services across the broader Francophone West African economic bloc.
Since its inception in 2020, Djamo has established itself as a leading force in a region characterized by exceptionally high mobile money adoption but historically low penetration of formal banking services.
The fintech has amassed over two million active users offering a suite of consumer products including bank-backed credit cards, digital savings accounts, mobile loans and cross-border remittance mechanisms.
Prior to opening its $40 million Series C book, Djamo successfully raised $31 million in equity funding alongside $5 million in debt financing. Its cap table features prominent global and regional venture capital names, including Y Combinator, Partech and Janngo Capital.
Having recently executed a successful expansion into Senegal the executive team is leveraging new capital to build out low-cost transaction rails for underserved demographics and international payment tools for a growing Generation Z consumer base.
See also: Avanti Expands Amid Starlink Limbo
Unlike traditional fintech models that seek to directly disrupt legacy institutions, Djamo’s expansion playbook relies heavily on a cooperative bank-integrated model. The company currently utilizes structural partnerships with regional banking giants like Ecobank to back its international payment cards.
Furthermore, management clarified that Djamo will bypass direct cryptocurrency integration such as Bitcoin in favor of working alongside the Ivorian central bank. The firm is currently in talks to participate in a regulatory sandbox framework aimed at deploying fiat-backed stablecoins to optimize low-cost cross-border B2B remittances for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
With Côte d’Ivoire’s overall financial inclusion rate surging from 41% in 2017 to 58% in recent years, Djamo aims to capture the remaining market by bridging the gap between basic mobile wallets and comprehensive wealth-building products.
