Product of the Day
Talk360 wants to
become payment company
The calling app has received a $1.4-million VC boost to expand its user base and to streamline payment across the fragmented African market.
Talk360, an international calling app that offers affordable calls to landlines and mobiles, has secured $1.4-million in a funding round led by its long-time investor, Havaic, a South African venture capital (VC) . It says the funding will support the company’s goal of connecting seven million people by 2025 and advancing towards profitability.
Having grown from 2.3-million to 4-million users in two years, Talk360 aims to enhance its service for African migrant communities and explore a new payment platform to address challenges in the fragmented African market. It plans to expand its language options and partnerships to better serve its users. Despite a challenging venture capital environment, Havaic’s continued support highlights confidence in Talk360’s business model and vision.
“This funding will help us continue our mission of connecting African migrant communities with their families back home,” says Hans Osnabrugge, co-founder and CEO of Talk360.
Talk360 is a South African and Dutch calling app that enables affordable international calls, requiring only the initiator to have the app and internet connectivity to reach any number globally. The business has garnered strong backing from investors.
In 2022, Talk360 raised $7-million through two seed funding rounds, attracting investments from African venture capitalists and fintech angels across Europe and South Africa, including executives from Adyen and Mollie, as well as the founders of Tyme Bank.
Dean Hiine, co-founder and MD Africa at Talk360 and Hans Osnabrugge, co-founder and CEO of Talk360
After the raises, Talk360 sought to not only expand its user base among the African diaspora in the UK, US, and South Africa but also to explore the potential of establishing the first payment aggregator designed to streamline the payment experience across the fragmented African market and solve the challenge of failed payment attempts for both merchants and consumers.
“This payment platform has been exclusively used in-house to establish a strong foundation,” says Osnabrugge. “The results have been exceptional, with an average 25% increase in payment conversion. We are strongly considering opening the platform to external merchants before Christmas 2024.”
The recent capital injection was based on the same $30-million+ valuation the company received in 2022 and amounted to $1-million from Havaic and an additional $400,000 from other investors. It comes at a time when the global venture capital landscape faces unprecedented challenges.
With the additional funds in place, Talk360 plans to localise into more African languages and set up more local and global partnerships with remittance companies, retailers, and brands.
Dean Hiine, co-founder and MD Africa at Talk360, says: “A better understanding of our audiences will also see the upcoming releases supporting languages such as Amharic and Portuguese. This talks to the significant demand of our Ethiopian customers and highlights our willingness to localise our solution where needed.
“Talk360 has built trust within underserved communities by offering a solution that resonates with their unique needs. This new funding will help the business capitalise on that trust to create even more tailored solutions that deliver value at a local level.”
Ian Lessem, managing partner at Havaic, says: “Talk360’s ability to navigate and succeed in challenging economic conditions speaks to the strength of its business model and clear vision. We are confident this latest round of funding will empower them to deepen their impact, especially in underserved communities across Africa.”
