Jabu
Jabu (JabuPay) is a Namibian fintech that builds smart safes, digital wallets, and card terminals to digitise cash in real time for merchants and banks across southern Africa. It operates in five countries with expansion into Botswana, Eswatini, and Ivory Coast underway.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersWindhoek, Namibia
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Jabu does
Jabu, operating commercially as JabuPay, is a Namibian-headquartered fintech that builds and operates a cash digitisation and merchant payments platform for cash-intensive African economies. The company's core offering is JabuSafe, an enterprise-grade smart safe that converts physical cash deposits into digital funds in real time, bundled with insurance, cash-in-transit collection, and maintenance services. This is complemented by JabuPay, a digital wallet for B2B payments, supplier settlements, mobile money collections, and batch disbursements, and JabuTap, a card acceptance terminal for in-person merchant payments. Together the three products form a single integrated platform that targets the operational risk and working-capital friction merchants face in markets where cash remains dominant.
The company is licensed by the Bank of Zambia as a Payment System Provider and routes card processing through PCI-DSS compliant providers, giving it regulatory standing across multiple jurisdictions. Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales combined with a banking partner channel that distributes Jabu's hardware and wallet to merchants, and a self-service mobile app distribution layer (Google Play, App Store) for smaller merchants. Revenue is generated from hardware deployment and associated services, transaction fees on B2B payments, mobile money collections, and card acceptance, and digital wallet services, with pricing disclosed per transaction or per merchant agreement in local currency.
Jabu was founded in 2020 and is active across Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with stated plans or early entry into Botswana, Eswatini, and Ivory Coast. The business was originally positioned as a B2B e-commerce and last-mile distribution platform and has since pivoted to focus on cash digitisation and payments. It has raised $3.2 million in seed funding (2021) led by Afore Capital with Y Combinator participation, and $15 million in Series A funding (May 2022) led by Tiger Global, and was selected for the Visa Inclusive Fintech Accelerator in late 2024.
Jabu firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Jabu
- Legal name
- Jabu Technologies (Pty) Ltd
- Website
- https://gojabu.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Jabu (JabuPay) is a Namibian fintech that builds smart safes, digital wallets, and card terminals to digitise cash in real time for merchants and banks across southern Africa. It operates in five countries with expansion into Botswana, Eswatini, and Ivory Coast underway.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Jabu industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Processing Services
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Sales Financing (52222)
- SIC
- Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)
- akta.pro primary industry
- A2A Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) (FSAMAFAB)
Keywords
Where Jabu is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Windhoek
- HQ country
- Namibia
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices1 record
Markets served
Jabu business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales and Smart Safe Services: JabuSafe enterprise-grade smart safes are deployed to merchants, including insurance, cash-in-transit collection, and maintenance. Revenue generated from hardware deployment and associated services.
- Transaction and Payment Processing Fees: Fees for processing B2B payments, supplier settlements, mobile money collections, and card transactions through JabuTap terminals. Transaction fees are disclosed at time of transaction or in merchant agreements.
- Digital Wallet Services: Revenue from JabuPay Wallet services including B2B payments, batch disbursements, and mobile money collections. Fees quoted in local currency per operating country.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Custom pricing based on service agreement |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
Jabu product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Jabu (operating as JabuPay) provides a unified cash management and payments platform for merchants and banks in Africa. Its core offering combines JabuSafe enterprise-grade smart safes, the JabuPay digital wallet for B2B payments and settlements, and JabuTap card acceptance terminals, all backed by real-time cash-to-digital conversion at the point of deposit.
Product overview
Jabu (operating as JabuPay) is a unified cash management and payments platform for Africa, comprising four integrated products: JabuSafe (smart safes for real-time cash digitisation), JabuPay Wallet (digital wallet for B2B payments and settlements), JabuTap (card acceptance terminals), and Cash Digitisation (conversion of physical cash to digital funds). The platform serves cash-intensive economies across Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the DRC, with Ivory Coast coming soon.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- JabuSafe: Enterprise-grade smart safes that digitize cash deposits in real time, including insurance, cash-in-transit (CIT) collection, and maintenance.
- JabuTap
Products and services
- JabuSafe
Quantifiable outcome
- Real-time cash digitisation - physical cash converts to digital funds the moment it hits the safe
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Jabu
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Jabu technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Jabu partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Jabu competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Yoco: South African fintech providing card acceptance terminals and business tools to SMB merchants. Directly comparable to Jabu's JabuTap product line and B2B merchant focus in Southern Africa, with overlapping geographies in South Africa and Namibia.
- Flutterwave: Pan-African payment infrastructure provider enabling merchants to accept and process payments across the continent. Comparable to Jabu's B2B payment processing, multi-country African footprint, and merchant acquiring focus.
- Paystack: African online and offline payment gateway (acquired by Stripe) serving merchants across Nigeria and beyond. Comparable merchant acquiring and digital payment functionality targeting African SMB and enterprise merchants.
- Chipper Cash: African cross-border payments fintech serving consumers and businesses in multiple African countries. Comparable pan-African digital payments focus and multi-market expansion strategy across emerging and frontier markets.
- Peach Payments: African payment gateway serving online and in-person merchants across Southern Africa. Comparable merchant acquiring and payment processing offerings in directly overlapping geographies (South Africa, Namibia).
Broad incumbents
- Interswitch: Large African digital payments and commerce company operating payment processing, card issuing, and merchant acquiring across multiple African markets. Comparable broad payment infrastructure role, though much larger and more diversified.
- Cellulant: Pan-African digital payments platform providing payment processing, mobile money, and banking solutions across multiple African markets. Comparable broad payments infrastructure and cross-country payment orchestration.
- M-Pesa (Safaricom/Vodafone): Dominant African mobile money network with the largest agent footprint across Kenya and other markets. Comparable mobile money / digital payment category and cash digitisation narrative, though vastly larger scale and consumer-led.
Regional players
- Lesaka Technologies: South African-based fintech (including Kazang) serving cash-based merchants with payment acceptance, cash management, and value-added services across Southern Africa. Closely comparable cash-centric merchant focus and SMB distribution model.
Emerging players
- TymeBank: South African digital bank serving mass-market and SME customers including merchant acquiring via its banking platform. Comparable emerging digital banking and merchant payments strategy in Southern Africa with banking partner distribution model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Jabu social profiles
Digital presenceJabu compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Jabu financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Jabu leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Jabu funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Jabu M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Jabu
What does Jabu do?
Jabu (operating as JabuPay) provides a unified cash management and payments platform for merchants and banks in Africa. Its core offering combines JabuSafe enterprise-grade smart safes, the JabuPay digital wallet for B2B payments and settlements, and JabuTap card acceptance terminals, all backed by real-time cash-to-digital conversion at the point of deposit.
Is Jabu a public or private company?
Jabu is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Jabu founded?
Jabu was founded in 2020. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Jabu based?
Jabu is headquartered in Windhoek, Namibia, in the Africa region.
How does Jabu make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales and Smart Safe Services are the primary driver. The others are transaction and Payment Processing Fees and digital Wallet Services.
Who are Jabu's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Yoco, Flutterwave, Paystack, Chipper Cash and Peach Payments. Broad incumbents are Interswitch, Cellulant and M-Pesa (Safaricom/Vodafone). Lesaka Technologies is listed as a regional player. TymeBank is listed as an emerging player.
Does Jabu have an API?
No public API is recorded for Jabu.
What industry is Jabu in?
Jabu's product category is Payment Processing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMAFAB, A2A Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs). Its NAICS code is 52232 and its SIC code is 6153.