Coinbase, Polygon Studios Join Jambo’s $7.5 Million Seed Round

By Kate Irwin

Jambo—a Web3 banking app for the African continent—has just raised $7.5 million in seed round funding from a host of investors, including Coinbase Ventures, Polygon Studios, Delphi Ventures, 3 Arrows Capital, Alameda Research, AllianceDAO, Tiger Global, DeFiance Capital, Hashed, UOB, Signum Capital, BH Digital, Yield Guild Games, and others. 

In addition to the above seed funding investors, Jambo also includes Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, CEO of Terraform Labs Do Kwon and Polygon’s CEO Sandeep Nailwal as early investors and advisors.

Jambo wants to be an all-in-one app for people living on the African continent, allowing them to become banked via the blockchain, access crypto through decentralized exchanges, and enjoy blockchain games. Co-founder and CEO James Zhang calls it a “superapp.” 

Jambo takes on Web3 education

Alongside its crypto banking ambitions, Jambo is also focused on educating youth in a continent where 60% of the population is under the age of 24. 

As a part of this effort, the startup has launched an ambassadors program and the JamboAcademy to help onboard new users to Web3. 

As of last week, Jambo has over 50 ambassadors spread across 15 African countries and more than 12,000 students participating in its educational program focused on teaching youth about play-to-earn games and Web3 technology.

Currently, the startup plans to launch services in cities in 14 of Africa’s 54 countries. With nearly half a billion people currently using mobile services and a projected 30 million using 5G networks by 2025, Africa will continue to be a leading market for mobile app developers looking to tap into Web3.

And following this latest investment, Jambo is hoping to tap into this trend too. 

Editors Note [Feb. 21, 2022 at 10 am EST]: Previous marketing materials incorrectly indicated Jambo's valuation was $50 million. This article has been amended to reflect this correction.

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