South African international calling app Talk360, which enables people around the world to make reliable and affordable calls to any landline or mobile phone worldwide, announced the spin-off of its payment platform into a separate entity named “NjiaPay”.
Co-founded in 2016 by South African venture builder Dean Hiine with Dutch entrepreneurs Hans Osnabrugge and Jorne Schamp, Talk360 is an easy-to-use calling app that helps consumers make affordable international calls to any mobile and landline number.
It is already Africa’s leading international calling app, with offices in South Africa, the Netherlands, India and Nigeria, and connected more than four million people in 2023. Talk360 raised US$1.4 million in pre-Series A funding in September, following a US$7 million seed round completed in 2022.
After raising that seed round, the startup started to explore the potential of establishing a modern payment aggregator designed to streamline and optimise the payment experience across the fragmented African market.
“To continue Talk360’s mission of connecting migrant communities globally, it is vital to capitalise on our strengths. By carving out our payment ambitions into NjiaPay, we’ve sharpened our focus on what we do best – connecting people through our calling app – while paving the way for a new opportunity to improve payments in Africa,” Osnabrugge said.
“Over the past two years, we’ve grown from connecting 2.3 million consumers to four million last year, fulfilling our promise to bridge migrant communities with their families back home.”
The company has now decided to spin NjiaPay out as a separate entity, led by seasoned fintech executives Jonatan Allback and Roderick Simons. NjiaPay is set to launch its services to external customers in Q1 2025, with a unique and dedicated focus on African payments.
The new venture claims to be transforming payments in Africa by introducing a single, streamlined checkout process tailored to the continent’s diverse needs. Leveraging machine learning and AI, it intelligently navigates the best-performing PSPs and payment methods, ensuring seamless transitions to alternate options and optimising transaction success rates.
