South African calling app startup Talk360 raises $4m
The seed round of funding was led by leading African venture capital investors Havaíc, 4Di Capital and several prominent fintech angel investors.
The angel investors include several unicorn founders and executives such as Gaston Aussems (ex-Mollie), Robert Kraal (ex-Adyen), Gabriel de Montessuss (President WorldPay International) and Marnix van der Ploeg (ex-Booking.com and EQT).
Talk360 was co-founded in 2016 by South African venture builder Dean Hiine, and Dutch entrepreneurs Hans Osnabrugge and Jorne Schamp. It has offices in South Africa, the Netherlands, India and Nigeria,
“From the start, our mission was to bridge distance and connect lives by offering reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use digital services, delivered in a localised manner to all communities, particularly emerging countries, so they can connect to the world,” said Hiine.
“With HAVAÍC’s experience, networks and complementary investments in Africa, we are incredibly excited about the prospects of Talk360. We believe the business will not only continue on a path of exponential customer acquisition but is well on its way to leveraging this growth by offering other complementary technology-enabled products to its growing customer base,” said Ian Lessem, managing partner of Havaíc.
Talk360 also aims to accelerate its mission to create jobs and reduce unemployment in the communities it serves through its agent network. “By creating jobs and micro-entrepreneurship opportunities within different communities, we learned how we can help African consumers and businesses connect with their loved ones,” said Osnabrugge.