South African integrated identity platform Contactable has raised $13.5m in a funding round to expand its digital onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) services across Africa. The investment was led by Venture Capitalworks, with participation from co-investors Fireball Capital, Ke Nako Capital, and Mavovo.
The deal signals growing investor interest in the less glamorous but critical infrastructure layer of Africa’s tech ecosystem. While fintechs and consumer apps often grab headlines, companies like Contactable are building the digital rails they run on.
Why it matters
For millions of people across Africa who lack formal identification, accessing basic financial services, mobile phone contracts, or insurance policies is a major hurdle. This identity gap is a significant barrier to financial inclusion and economic participation.
Contactable is tackling this challenge by providing a unified platform for enterprises to verify customer identities, streamline onboarding, and combat fraud. It’s a sizable market, with estimates projecting Africa’s digital identity sector to reach $3.4bn by 2028.
Founded in 2012 by Shaun Strydom (CEO), the Centurion-based company has become a trusted provider for blue-chip clients in finance, telecoms, insurance, and retail. Its platform acts as a single integration point for managing the entire customer lifecycle, from initial verification to ongoing compliance.
“This investment is an exciting development for Contactable. It allows us to strengthen our platform and expand with our customers, while continuing to build the digital identity infrastructure that supports Africa’s growing digital economy,” said Shaun Strydom, CEO and founder of Contactable.
The Investor View
For lead investor Venture Capitalworks, the investment is a bet on the foundational importance of digital identity in Africa’s transformation.
“Digital identity is at the heart of financial inclusion and digital transformation. Our strategy is to partner with proven leaders like Shaun and his team, bringing, beyond capital, the operational commitment to accelerate their growth,” said Brent Shahim, Managing Partner at Venture Capitalworks.
Shahim emphasized the collaborative nature of the round, stating, “We could not have done this without our co-investors who are also LPs in our fund. They supported our vision for the business and together we are a formidable capital partnership.”
What’s next?
The new capital will fuel Contactable’s expansion into new African markets and accelerate its product development. The company plans to advance its offerings in several high-demand areas, including:
- Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO): Identifying the true owners of corporate entities to combat money laundering.
- Artificial Intelligence: Enhancing its fraud detection and verification capabilities.
- Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI): Developing models that give individuals more control over their digital identities.
- Payments Integration: Embedding identity verification directly into payment flows.
“Contactable operates at the nexus of technology, regulation, and inclusion,” Strydom concluded. “This partnership will allow us to deepen our customer partnerships, extend our reach into underserved markets and enhance our ability to deliver secure, trusted digital identity solutions where they are needed most.”