Jambo, a Congolese startup with operations in several African countries, has raised $7.5 million in seed funding to enable the continent achieve financial prosperity through its web3 ecosystem. Coinbase and Alameda Research lead the investment round.
The new funding will help the startup to continue its mission of creating Africa’s web3 user acquisition portal, which will allow users to study, play, and earn all at the same time, while also democratizing access to crypto-based income-generation options.
Jambo is also testing over ten play-to-earn games, which will be released in the next months, according to the company.
Jambo’s co-founder and CEO, James Zhang, stated that the company’s application aims to onboard people to web3 across Africa utilizing a dual approach that allows users to perform web2 and web3 activities.
The startup’s main user acquisition strategy, according to the CEO, is to double African airtime and data to allow customers to save money while using the app, adding that it partners with telecom carriers to acquire a 70% discount and sells directly to its consumers at a 50% discount from the original cost.
James also said the company is looking to popularize the Web3 play-to-earn games which is not so popular in the region due to lack of infrastructure (Guild) to create them. More importantly, he said Jambo doesn’t plan to take a cut from its users’ earnings as revenue would come from web2 model spanning from charging advertising dollars and commissions from selling airtime and data.
Over 12,000 students from 15 African countries, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, and, of course, Congo, have already joined up to explore opportunities in play-to-earn gaming and decentralized finance, according to the startup (DeFi).