Ivory Coast-based fintech startup, Julaya has announced a $2 million pre-Series A funding to expand its products across West Africa.
The funding round was led by Orange Ventures, MFS Africa Frontiers, Saviu Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, 50 Partners Capital, and angel investors from Africa and Europe.
Julaya was founded in 2018 by Mathias Léopoldie and Charles Talbot, who had previously worked at a French fintech startup, LemonWay. The experience introduced them to how mobile money worked across Francophone Africa.
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Julaya was launched to digitize trade payments. The platform enables companies to streamline their accounting and improve their operational efficiency by digitizing payments to workers and suppliers instead of relying on cash.
The company helps African businesses and institutions disburse payments to mobile money and mobile banking wallets. It achieves this by working with telecom operators and other fintech startups in the region.
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According to TechCrunch, the company says it is currently processing over $1.5 million monthly for 50 of these customers, including Jumia, SODECI, Ministry of Education, Ivory Coast, and the World Bank.
Julaya closed a pre-seed investment of $250,000 in 2018 and a seed investment of $550,000 a year later, all from angel investors. The company will use the investment to broaden its market share in Ivory Coast and launch digital payment products and expand across West Africa.
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What they are saying
Habib Bamba, the director of Transformation, digital and media at Orange Ivory Coast said:
“Fintech’s environment in Africa is distinguished by its competitiveness and strong dynamism. Orange Group, through its technology investment fund, intends to participate in this boom by supporting fintechs such as Julaya. The goal is to target local technology champions at the service of the transition to a more digital and responsible world.”
