JUMO, a South Africa’s fintech startup has secured a $55 million in debt and equity funding. The startup announced recently that the fund would be used to facilitate its expansion into emerging markets and also launch new products there.

Expressing excitement on the impacts of the new acquisition on the company’s next phase, Andrew Watkins-Ball, JUMO’s Founder and Group CEO said that this new backing will help the startup build a better business and break new grounds. Additionally, he stated that the strong vote of confidence, along with the world-class tech talent the company has means that it can achieve exceptional outcomes for its partners and customers.

Existing investors who participated in the investment round include Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management and Leapfrog Investments plus new unidentified investors.

Since its inception in 2014, JUMO has partnered with banks, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and other e-commerce players to deliver “progressive financial choices” to customers in emerging markets across both Africa and Asia. According to Watkins-Ball, JUMO plans to expand into Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and Côte d’Ivoire in its “next phase” this year.  The fintech has a presence in Pakistan but also has plans to expand into India, a nation with over 1.3 billion population, with many financially excluded adults.

JUMO has its footprints in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia where it has disbursed $1.8 billion in loans and financial services through telecoms and financial service providers. Leveraging on the customer base of its partners it has served an estimated 15 million customers. 

This new funding would help JUMO provide Financial inclusion, which has been identified as an enabler for 7 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, especially in countries with a huge number of unbanked and underserved.