Pan-African digital banking platform Zazu has raised US $1 million in a pre-seed funding round aimed at scaling its technology-enabled banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa, according to fintech sector reporting.
The financing was secured from a group of leading African and European investors, including Plug and Play Ventures alongside a cohort of prominent angel backers and fintech founders. Participating investors comprise Zachariah George (Launch Africa Ventures), Axel Peyriere (AUTO24.africa), Akshay Patel (Paymentology), Ismael Belkhayat (Chari) and Sophie Guibaud (Fiat Republic), complemented by founders and leaders from European fintech firms such as Qonto and Solarisbank.
Founded by Germain Bahri and Rinse Jacobs, both former executives of Solarisbank, Zazu is building a pan-African digital banking platform designed exclusively for entrepreneurs and SMEs, with features intended to simplify business banking, including invoicing, bookkeeping and cash-flow tools, industry sources said.
The startup, which has more than 50 SMEs in beta and over 1,000 businesses on its waitlist, plans to deploy the fresh capital to accelerate its rollout in South Africa and Morocco, with broader expansion throughout Africa slated for 2026. Zazu aims to serve the continent’s estimated 50 million underserved SMEs, combining fintech expertise drawn from European markets with solutions tailored to local business needs.
Investors and analysts view the funding as part of a broader wave of investment into fintech innovation across Africa, where digital financial services continue to evolve rapidly in response to high demand from SMEs seeking accessible and modern banking alternatives.
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