NjiaPay Secures $1M+ Pre-Seed Funding to Simplify Payments for African Businesses
NjiaPay, a Payments-as-a-Service provider addressing the complexities of payments in Africa, has successfully closed an oversubscribed $1 million+ pre-seed funding round. The round was led by HAVAÍC, with participation from prominent angel investors, including founders of Anyfin, Banxware, and Maxidrive.
Launched in late 2024 as a spin-off from Talk360, the international calling app for the African diaspora, NjiaPay (pronounced “N-Jee-ah” and meaning ‘Route’ and ‘Path’ in Swahili) streamlines payment management for businesses across the continent, tackling both technical and operational challenges.
Addressing Payment Challenges in Africa
Managing payments in Africa presents significant hurdles, with businesses often forced to integrate multiple payment service providers (PSPs), leading to inefficiencies and increased costs. NjiaPay simplifies this process by acting as a smart aggregator of PSPs and payment methods. Through a single integration, merchants gain access to a seamless checkout experience and a centralized merchant portal, eliminating the complexities of fragmented payment operations.
Rob Heath, Partner at HAVAÍC, highlighted the critical role of NjiaPay in overcoming these challenges:
“We have observed firsthand the difficulties faced by our portfolio companies in managing payments across Africa. The need to integrate with multiple PSPs can severely delay product development. Streamlining payment operations is essential for the growth of the African digital economy, and we believe NjiaPay is well-positioned to address this need.”
Leveraging AI for Smarter Payments
NjiaPay’s platform is built on cutting-edge cloud-based technology and incorporates AI-driven payment routing to optimize PSP selection for each transaction. This increases conversion rates and reduces transaction costs. Additionally, the platform integrates fraud screening, redundancy mechanisms, and centralized reporting to enhance security and streamline financial operations.
Co-founder and CEO Jonatan Allback, who previously spent eight years at global PSP leader Adyen, emphasized the importance of payment infrastructure in business success:
“As a mid-market company or smaller enterprise, managing multiple PSP integrations can be costly and resource-intensive, often forcing businesses to maintain outdated payment systems that hinder growth.”
Co-founder and CPTO Roderick Simons added:
“Our platform intelligently selects the optimal PSP for each transaction, driving higher conversion rates while minimizing costs. Additionally, our sophisticated fraud protection ensures merchants are safeguarded from potential losses.”
Expansion Plans
Currently operational in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, NjiaPay aims to expand its product offerings and partnerships within these markets in 2025, with plans to scale across the continent.
Hans Osnabrugge, Founder of Talk360 and Chairman of NjiaPay’s Board, shared insights from firsthand experience:
“At Talk360, adopting NjiaPay freed up valuable engineering resources and led to a 25% increase in conversion rates, translating to significant revenue growth.”
With a deep understanding of local market dynamics and a commitment to empowering African businesses, NjiaPay is poised to revolutionize the region’s payment landscape, unlocking new opportunities for growth and financial inclusion.
Source: weetracker
