Pan-African digital banking platform Zazu, which is built exclusively for entrepreneurs and SMEs, has raised $1M in pre-seed funding from a group of leading African and European investors to accelerate its rollout in South Africa and Morocco, with plans to expand across the continent in 2026.
Founded by Germain Bahri and Rinse Jacobs, both former Solarisbank executives with deep fintech experience in Europe, Zazu is creating a Mercury-style experience for African entrepreneurs, according to Disrupt Africa.
With more than 50 SMEs already in beta and over 1,000 businesses on its waitlist, Zazu aims to serve Africa’s 50 million underserved SMEs, combining European fintech expertise with a deep understanding of African business realities.
The startup’s $1m pre-seed round includes Plug and Play Ventures with participation from a high-profile group of angel investors and fintech founders, including Zachariah George (Launch Africa Ventures), Axel Peyriere (AUTO24.africa), Akshay Patel (Paymentology), Ismael Belkhayat (Chari), Sophie Guibaud (Fiat Republic), and several founding members of European FinTech unicorns like Qonto and Solarisbank.
Zazu is already operational in South Africa and Morocco, where it has integrated with Paystack, Shopstar, and Ozow, and secured over 20 partnerships with ecosystem players.
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