NjiaPay, a South African payments-as-a-service provider for African businesses, has announced the successful completion of an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round, raising more than $1 million. The investment was led by HAVAÍC, a venture capital firm, and attracted participation from angel investors including founders of Anyfin, Banxware, and Maxidrive.
Spun out of Talk360, an international calling app focused on the African diaspora, NjiaPay launched in late 2024. The company aims to simplify payment management for businesses operating across the continent, addressing the complexities and inefficiencies associated with integrating multiple payment service providers (PSPs).
NjiaPay’s platform acts as an aggregator of PSPs and payment methods, offering businesses a single integration point for managing transactions. The company argues that many African businesses struggle with the technical and operational challenges of handling diverse payment systems, leading to increased costs and operational bottlenecks. NjiaPay’s solution provides a unified checkout experience and a consolidated merchant portal, simplifying payment operations.
The platform uses intelligent routing to direct transactions, incorporates built-in redundancy for reliability, and offers features such as fraud protection. NjiaPay claims this approach ensures a smoother payment experience for merchants while providing centralised reporting and data management tools to streamline back-office functions like customer support and finance.
Rob Heath, a partner at HAVAÍC, highlighted the challenges faced by businesses in managing payments across Africa. “We have observed first-hand the challenges faced by our portfolio companies in managing payments across the African continent,” he said. “The need to integrate with multiple PSPs can significantly impede their product development timelines. Streamlining payment operations is crucial for the growth of the African digital economy, and we believe that NjiaPay is well-positioned to address this critical need.”
Jonatan Allback, co-founder and CEO of NjiaPay, said the new funding would be used to expand the company’s team in both Amsterdam and Cape Town and to further develop the platform’s capabilities. “Our mission is to empower African businesses by simplifying the complexities of payments,” he commented. “By becoming their in-house payments experts, we enable them to focus on growth while we manage the operational and technical intricacies of their payments processing.”
Roderick Simons, co-founder and CPTO of NjiaPay, emphasised the platform’s technology. “NjiaPay is built on the latest cloud-based technology and leverages AI to select the optimal PSP for each transaction, driving higher conversion rates and minimising costs,” he explained. “Our platform also incorporates sophisticated fraud screening to safeguard businesses from losses.”
Currently operating in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, NjiaPay plans to expand its product offerings within these markets in 2025, partnering with additional PSPs and scaling its operations across the continent.
Hans Osnabrugge, founder of Talk360 and Chairman of the Board of NjiaPay, said that Talk360 had directly benefited from using NjiaPay’s solution. “At Talk360, we experienced first-hand the value of NjiaPay’s solution,” he said. “By transitioning to NjiaPay, we freed up valuable engineering resources and achieved a 25% increase in conversion rates, translating to significant revenue growth.”