The firm's customers are mostly unbanked merchants and individuals in emerging markets where the amount of active mobile money users is high.[8] According to Watkins-Ball, "A $20 loan that can be accessed without collateral in the middle of the night in a rural village can mean the difference between getting a sick person to hospital and going without medical care."[9] JUMO works with mobile network operators including Airtel, MTN Group and Tigo (Millicom) to make credit decisions for each loan application by drawing on non-traditional data points such as GSM records and mobile wallet transaction data. The platform leverages an unconventional digital credit model that does not require customers to have prior financial account ownership or a credit history. Loan decisions are automated and the digital credit application process happens over a mobile device with no need for in-person interactions.

Sensible aux principes de protection de la clientèle, JUMO a mis en place un comité d’éthique qui évalue, de manière indépendante, le respect des bonnes pratiques. La société a par ailleurs collaboré avec des organisations telles que The Smart Campaign pour adapter les standards de protection de la clientèle aux services financiers digitaux, en mettant notamment l’accent sur les aspects de confidentialité des données. En 2017, la Fondation MasterCard a désigné JUMO comme l’entreprise la plus client-centric, proposant des services financiers et travaillant avec des clients à faibles revenus dans les marchés émergents.

Au-delà, ce financement contribuera à améliorer leurs conditions de vie. Certains emprunteurs font usage de leur prêt pour couvrir des frais urgents et investir dans leur entreprise. Ce projet contribuera à leur autonomisation financière. Enfin, il appuie la création et le maintien d’emplois aussi bien au sein de JUMO qu’indirectement, au sein du secteur privé informel, en soutenant l’emploi des entrepreneurs et de leurs employés.

Jumo is already active in Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia and has representation in Cape Town, New Delhi, London, Mumbai, Nairobi, Porto, and Singapore, where its founder is now based.

By 2019, the start-up, claimed to have provided more than $bn in loans to 15 million customers, and to employ 300 people across 11 countries.

100% of its customers are estimated to be low-income, earning less than $10 per day PPP, and approximately 80% have never interacted with formal financial offerings before using the platform. The company has extensive expansion plans for both Africa and now Asia, with CEO and Founder, Andrew Watkins-Ball having relocated to Singapore to drive expansion.

Watkins-Ball comments on cost-effective technology used to collect information which strengthened the business model.  “When we founded JUMO, we were always clear that we can only achieve our mission by leveraging sophisticated information technologies at really low cost. The increase in our prediction capability decreases the cost of credit risk, allowing us to share more value with customers while driving sustainable returns for our bank partners.”

JUMO is a financial technology company that partners with banks, MNOs and other e-commerce players to deliver progressive financial choices to customers in emerging markets across Africa and Asia. At JUMO we connect people to opportunities. Two billion people worldwide have limited access to formal financial services such as borrowing and saving. We’ve built a large-scale, multi-sided technology platform and designed progressive financial choices to reach them. We use their digital footprint to create a financial identity using only behavioural data. Our customers are in emerging markets across Africa and Asia. Most of them are micro and small to medium enterprises who need instant access to finance so they can grow and invest. So far we’ve served more than 10 million customers and disbursed over 40 million loans – and the numbers are rising daily.

Founded in 2015 and based in Cape Town, the venture offers a full tech stack for partners to build savings, lending, and insurance products for customers in emerging markets.This week’s funding follows a $52 million raise by Jumo in 2018, led by U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, that saw the startup expand to Asia.“This fresh investment comes from new and existing…investors including Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management and LeapFrog Investments,” Jumo said in a statement —  though Goldman told TechCrunch its participation in this week’s round isn’t confirmed.After the latest haul, Jumo has raised $146 million in capital, according to Crunchbase.With its latest raise, the company plans to move into new markets and launch new products in Asia and Africa.

JUMO has raised a total of $146.7M in funding over 9 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Feb 26, 2020 from a Series C round.JUMO is funded by 10 investors. Goldman Sachs and LeapFrog Investments are the most recent investors.

JUMO's debt and equity round included participation from both new and existing investors, like Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management, and Leapfrog Investments, per TechStartups.com.

JUMO's business model of working with third parties helps it to diversify its distribution channels, and allows for quicker expansion — which is likely boosting investor interest in the fintech. To further diversify its offering, and make a bigger impact on serving the financially excluded population in emerging markets, JUMO should look into offering more consumer products, including loan options and bank accounts, as most of its offerings currently focus on serving entrepreneurs and businesses.

Timiza Akiba, a JUMO-powered savings product, grew 30% in 3 months despite COVID conditions.

A funding round of $52m USD was closed. The round was led by Goldman Sachs, with participation from Proparco, FinnFund, Vostok Emerging Finance, Gemcorp Capital, and LeapFrog Investments. A further $12.5m USD was secured from Odey Asset Management.