JUMO
“Can a modular banking-as-a-service infrastructure layer become the dominant rails for credit and savings across emerging markets in Africa?”
Founded2015
HQCape Town, South Africa (with London presence)
FoundersAndrew Watkins-Ball
Total raised$200M+ (equity and debt)
Latest roundSeries ($120M, 2021)
Valuation$400M (2021)
IndustryInfrastructure / BaaS
The story
Founded 2015 as a mobile financial services startup serving Ghana on feature phones via USSD, JUMO scaled into an African-wide BaaS infrastructure provider, powering banks and mobile network operators (notably MTN MoMo, Airtel, Tigo) to deliver credit and savings to unbanked entrepreneurs. The company has positioned itself as 'enabling infrastructure for banking' — a modular, AI-driven core banking + credit decisioning platform sold to banks/MNOs rather than to consumers, and has expanded into SME banking, embedded finance and asset management platform offerings.
Product timeline
2015
JUMO founded by Andrew Watkins-Ball; launched mobile financial services in Ghana· launch
2016
Surpassed 10 million loans delivered across 6 African countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana)· lending
2020
Raised $55M financing round· funding
2021
$120M round led by Fidelity with Visa and Kingsway at $400M valuation· funding
2024
Partnered with MTN MoMo to launch Qwikloan in South Africa· lending
2024
Launched first e-money Asset-Backed Securitisation (ABS) in Uganda· capital_markets
The stack
Banking / BaaS
Lending
JUMO (in-house)Configurable Credit Products (working capital loans, credit lines, overdrafts)MTN MoMo Qwikloan (powered by JUMO)Risk-based pricing and automated underwritingAsset-Backed Securitisation (ABS) capital structure
Accounting gap: none