Talk360, a VoIP startup based in South Africa, has completed its seed funding round. Months after its initial fundraise, the startup has raised an additional $3 million to complete its $7 million seed funding round.
The investment round had participations from Allan Gray E2 Ventures (AGEV), Kalon Venture Partners, E4E Africa, and Endeavor. The fundraise also featured existing investors like HAVAÍC chipping in. Participations also came from a list of angel investors that include Tjaart van der Walt and Coenraad Jonker.
Talk360 said it will invest its newly raised funds on growing its market share in the VoIP business. The startup also said it will launch a Pan-African payment platform that will make it easy for international and local businesses to transact with African residents.
“The new platform will allow users across the continent to buy products and services using any currency and more than 160 payment methods. It will also be opened to other merchants,” Talk360 said.
Talk360 was founded in 2016 by Dean Hiine, Hans Osnabrugge, and Jorne Schamp. Through its app, the startup allow its users to make international calls, and only requests the caller having the app and internet connection, to initiate a call.
The startup’s CEO, Dean Hiine, claims that the payment systems in Africa is burdened by too many complex processes that have affected the conversation rate. Hiine further stated that the issues around digital payments in Africa has affected Talk360 when it attempted to add payment options to its VoIP services. This problem triggered the startup’s move to launch a fintech product.
“Our mission is 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,” Hiine said.
Speaking on the investment in Talk360, HAVAÍC managing partner, Ian Lessem, said:
“We invested more into Talk360 based on its strong progress in the South African market to date, as well as its potential in the rest of Africa. Since our first investment, the company has shown spectacular growth, and a genuine ability to crack the challenge of distribution in Africa. We’ve seen the company convert users to paying customers by offering them relevant services, and making this accessible in an easy, affordable, reliable and trustworthy way.”
Talk360 boasted that its VoIP services has connected 2.3 million users across the globe this year, and has active users in 170 countries, including South Africa, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe.