Valuation of 300 billion won in just one year... Africa's 'Web3 Pioneer' Jambo

Interview with James Zhang, CEO of Jambo

Congo's 'Web3 Startup' Jambo

'Jambo Phone' sells 710,000 units in just one year

Partnership with US exchange Coinbase

Africa's financial infrastructure is poor. James Zhang, CEO of Congo's Web3 startup 'Jambo', experienced this firsthand during his teenage years.

"I tried to send money from a Congolese bank to a friend in Ghana. What I experienced were three things: long lines, high fees, and endless delays."

CEO Zhang shared this in an interview with Bloomingbit on the 23rd. He said, "It shouldn't be this difficult to send money to another country," and added, "That's when I felt the need for an alternative to the existing financial system."

Jambo Founded in 2021

He found an 'alternative' in the United States while studying computer engineering at New York University. CEO Zhang said, "I accidentally learned about Bitcoin (BTC) in a lecture," and "This lecture sparked my interest in virtual assets, and by the time I graduated, I was convinced of the future of virtual assets."

He then ran a virtual asset-based fund for four years, but his thirst wasn't quenched. CEO Zhang stated, "I became interested in virtual assets because I saw the potential to improve Africa's financial infrastructure," and "I thought that investing alone couldn't fully utilize the potential of virtual assets."

This is the background to CEO Zhang founding Jambo in his home country, Congo, in 2021. Unlike other Web3 startups, he focused on hardware (HW). CEO Zhang explained, "The basic obstacle to onboarding virtual assets is that this field is complex and lacks user-friendly tools," and "That's why I decided to create mobile devices with higher accessibility rather than just developing software (SW)."

Valuation of $200 million in just one year

Jambo raised $30 million (about 44 billion won) in Series A funding in 2022. Jambo's Series A investment, led by virtual asset venture capital (VC) Paradigm, included major investors such as Hashed, Delphi Ventures, and Pantera Capital. The company's valuation at that time was $200 million (about 300 billion won). This achievement came just about a year after the company was founded.

Investors focused on the potential of emerging markets. CEO Zhang explained that the growth potential of the African virtual asset market is limitless. In fact, 75% of Africa's population of 1.4 billion are young people under the age of 35. This means that markets centered on new technologies such as Web3 and blockchain have great potential for explosive growth. CEO Zhang said, "Africa is the continent with the highest proportion of young people in the world, and about 50% of the population cannot properly access banking services," and "The explosive increase in mobile device usage in Africa over the past decade is also an important point."

There are also increasing cases of using virtual assets as a 'hedge against inflation' due to currency instability. CEO Zhang said, "In countries with high inflation rates such as Argentina and El Salvador, virtual assets are sometimes used as a means of livelihood," and "(Investors) empathized with the practical need for virtual assets in emerging markets."

Jambo used the investment to launch the Web3 smartphone 'Jambo Phone' last year. They collaborated with the blockchain network Aptos to enhance usability. Applications (apps) necessary for virtual asset transactions, such as wallets, are pre-installed, and they also provide their self-developed artificial intelligence (AI) service 'JamboGPT'.

The price is $99 (about 140,000 won), more than half cheaper than competitor products like Solana Seeker ($500). CEO Zhang said, "(The low price is) a strategy to increase blockchain accessibility in emerging markets such as Africa," and "We secured a large supply chain in China to lower hardware prices."

The results are already visible. As of this month, Jambo Phone has sold over 710,000 units in 128 countries, just one year after its launch. Thanks to this sales performance, Jambo operates branches in six African countries, including Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria. CEO Zhang said, "Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, where smartphone penetration and bank usage are relatively low, are Jambo's target markets," and "We plan to open offline stores in several countries, including Brazil and Indonesia, over the next 2-3 years."

"Goal is to be the 'On-chain Samsung'"

The 'expansion work' of the virtual asset ecosystem centered around Jambo Phone is also steadily progressing. First, Jambo signed a partnership with the US virtual asset exchange Coinbase at the end of last year to increase the utilization of on-chain services. Jambo also issued its own token, Jambo (J), the day before (22nd). Jambo Token is listed on the global virtual asset exchange OKX.

CEO Zhang cited 'distribution' as Jambo's vision. He said, "Jambo's target audience is potential customers in emerging markets who need virtual assets but are not familiar with them," and "The long-term goal is to onboard them into the virtual asset ecosystem through Jambo Phone." He added, "As we are targeting a huge market, I am confident that Jambo can grow into the 'On-chain Samsung'."

Junhyung Lee, Bloomingbit Reporter gilson@bloomingbit.io