NjiaPay, a Payments-as-a-Service provider solving the complexities of payments for African businesses, today announced the closing of an oversubscribed $1 million+ pre-seed funding round. The round was led by HAVAÍC, with participation from several prominent angel investors, including founders of Anyfin, Banxware, and Maxidrive.

Launched in late 2024 as a spin-off from Talk360, the international calling app for the African diaspora, NjiaPay (pronounced “N-Jee-ah” and meaning ‘Route’ and ‘Path’ in Swahili) streamlines payment management for African businesses, addressing both technical and operational challenges.

Rob Heath, Partner at HAVAÍC, explains his excitement about the company’s commitment to empowering African businesses. “We have observed firsthand the challenges faced by our portfolio companies in managing payments across the African continent. 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,” he stated.

Managing payments on the continent presents significant hurdles. Businesses often grapple with integrating and managing multiple payment service providers (PSPs), leading to operational inefficiencies and increased costs. NjiaPay addresses this by acting as a smart aggregator of PSPs and payment methods. Through a single, seamless integration, merchants gain access to a unified checkout experience and a consolidated merchant portal, which simplifies their payment operations.

Furthermore, NjiaPay’s platform leverages intelligent routing, built-in redundancy, and advanced features such as fraud protection. This ensures a frictionless payment experience for its merchants while providing centralized reporting and data management to streamline operational functions, such as customer support and finance.

“We are thrilled to have secured this funding, which will enable us to scale our team, both in Amsterdam and Cape Town, and further enhance our platform’s capabilities,” said Jonatan Allback, co-founder and CEO of NjiaPay. “Our mission is to empower African businesses by simplifying the complexities of payments. 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.”

With over eight years of experience at Adyen, a leading global PSP, Allback brings a deep understanding of the critical role of payments in the success of online businesses today. He emphasized the challenges faced by many African businesses, stating, “As a Mid-Market company, or smaller enterprise, managing multiple PSP integrations often leads to increased cost and operational burdens, missed opportunities due to lack of technical resources, and at times, the need to maintain legacy payments infrastructure, all of which can hinder growth,” he added.

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Roderick Simons, co-founder and CPTO of NjiaPay, highlighted the platform’s technological advancements. “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 minimizing costs. Our platform also incorporates sophisticated fraud screening to safeguard businesses from losses,” he explained.

Currently live in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, NjiaPay plans to expand its product offerings within these markets in 2025, by partnering with more PSPs and scaling its operations across the continent.

Hans Osnabrugge, Founder of Talk360 and NjiaPay’s Chairman of the Board, underscored the tangible benefits of the NjiaPay platform. “At Talk360, we experienced firsthand the value of NjiaPay’s solution. By transitioning to NjiaPay, we freed up valuable engineering resources and achieved a 25% increase in conversion rates, translating to significant revenue growth,” he said.

With a deep understanding of local market dynamics and a steadfast commitment to empowering businesses, NjiaPay is poised to improve the payment landscape in Africa, enabling merchants to navigate challenges and unlock new avenues for growth.