Zazu is looking to raise ?150,000 through an equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, as it prepares to launch its new digital-only bank in Africa.
So far, it has raised nearly??70,000 from more than 171 investors, with the campaign set to close later this fall.
Founded in 2015, Zazu says it was born from Ignite Accelerator as an e-commerce platform for farmers, the startup is now setting its sights on offering an affordable branchless banking for Africa via an app. It believes it can help people self-finance themselves out of poverty, and that digital services are the answer. ?We believe access to banking should be simple, straightforward and affordable to everyone,it states on its website.
Zazu is developing a prepaid card with a companion app to offer a real-time log of a consumer spending & control on the card usage. It costs $2 to obtain a card, with a monthly subscription of $2.
The start-up said it is aiming to issue 100,000 accounts in Zambia before December 2018 and is currently in talks with a potential sponsor bank to enable it to expand to other African countries.
Co-founder Perseus Mlambo previously worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). COO and co-founder is Alessandra Martini. Has an MSc in African Development from the London School of Economics. While CTO and co-founder Adam Farah previously worked for SAS and Lloyds Banking Group in the UK.
Last?year, East African payments processor Direct Pay Online Group (DPO Group) received an investment from Apis Partners. The Nairobi-based company launched in 2006 and now serves Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, including Zanzibar.
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