剛果的「Web3 新創公司」Jambo

「Jambo Phone」光一年就售出了71萬支。與美國交易所Coinbase合作

James Zhang, the CEO of Jambo, a Congolese Web3 startup, had firsthand experience with the difficulties of Africa's financial infrastructure during his teenage years.

剛果 Web3 新創公司 Jambo 的執行長 James 張在青少年時期就親身體驗非洲金融基礎設施的困難。

"I attempted to send money from a Congolese bank to a friend in Ghana, and encountered three obstacles: lengthy lines, exorbitant fees, and interminable delays."

“我試圖從一家剛果銀行向加納的一位朋友匯款，但遇到了三個障礙：排長隊、高昂的費用和無休止的延誤。”

These experiences led CEO Zhang to conclude that there must be an alternative to the existing financial system, as sending money to another country should not be this complicated.

這些經驗使執行長張先生得出結論，必須有一個現有金融體系的替代方案，因為向另一個國家匯款不應該這麼複雜。

Jambo was founded in 2021 by CEO Zhang, who encountered Bitcoin (BTC) during a lecture while studying computer engineering at New York University.

Jambo 由執行長張於 2021 年創立，他在紐約大學學習電腦工程期間的一次講座中接觸到了比特幣 (BTC)。

"This lecture sparked my interest in virtual assets, and by the time I graduated, I was convinced of the future of virtual assets," said CEO Zhang.

「這次講座激發了我對虛擬資產的興趣，當我畢業時，我對虛擬資產的未來充滿信心，」執行長張說。

He subsequently managed a virtual asset-based fund for four years, but his desire to contribute to Africa's financial infrastructure remained unfulfilled.

隨後，他管理了一個虛擬資產基金四年，但他為非洲金融基礎設施做出貢獻的願望仍未實現。

"I became interested in virtual assets because I saw the potential to improve Africa's financial infrastructure," stated CEO Zhang, "and I believed that investing alone couldn't fully utilize the potential of virtual assets."

“我對虛擬資產產生了興趣，因為我看到了改善非洲金融基礎設施的潛力，”首席執行官張表示，“我相信僅靠投資並不能充分發揮虛擬資產的潛力。”

He eventually decided to return to his home country, Congo, and establish Jambo in 2021.

他最終決定返回祖國剛果，並於 2021 年創立 Jambo。

Unlike other Web3 startups, CEO Zhang chose to focus on hardware (HW).

與其他 Web3 新創公司不同，CEO 張選擇專注於硬體（HW）。

"The basic obstacle to onboarding virtual assets is that this field is complex and lacks user-friendly tools," explained CEO Zhang, "That's why I decided to create mobile devices with higher accessibility rather than just developing software (SW)."

「引入虛擬資產的基本障礙是這個領域很複雜並且缺乏用戶友好的工具，」首席執行官張解釋道，「這就是為什麼我決定創建具有更高可訪問性的移動設備，而不僅僅是開發軟體（SW）。

Jambo secured $30 million (approximately 44 billion won) in Series A funding in 2022.

Jambo 在 2022 年獲得了 3,000 萬美元（約 440 億韓元）的 A 輪融資。

The Series A investment was led by virtual asset venture capital (VC) Paradigm, and included major investors such as Hashed, Delphi Ventures, and Pantera Capital.

A輪投資由虛擬資產創投（VC）Paradigm領投，主要投資者包括Hashed、Delphi Ventures和Pantera Capital等。

The company's valuation at the time was $200 million (about 300 billion won), an achievement reached approximately a year after the company's founding.

該公司當時的估值為2億美元（約3000億韓元），這是該公司成立大約一年後達到的成就。

Investors were drawn to the potential of emerging markets, particularly Africa's vast potential for growth in the virtual asset market.

投資者被新興市場的潛力所吸引，特別是非洲虛擬資產市場的巨大成長潛力。

"75% of Africa's population of 1.4 billion are young people under the age of 35," said CEO Zhang, highlighting the potential for markets centered on new technologies like Web3 and blockchain.

執行長張表示：「非洲 14 億人口中有 75% 是 35 歲以下的年輕人。」他強調了以 Web3 和區塊鏈等新技術為中心的市場潛力。

"Africa has the highest proportion of young people in the world, and about 50% of the population cannot properly access banking services," explained CEO Zhang, adding that the explosive increase in mobile device usage in Africa over the past decade also played a significant role.

「非洲是全球年輕人口比例最高的國家，約50%的人口無法正常獲得銀行服務。」張先生解釋道，過去十年非洲行動裝置使用量的爆發式增長也發揮了重要作用。

There are also increasing cases of using virtual assets as a 'hedge against inflation' due to currency instability.

由於貨幣不穩定，使用虛擬資產作為「對沖通膨」的案例也越來越多。

"In countries with high inflation rates such as Argentina and El Salvador, virtual assets are sometimes used as a means of livelihood," said CEO Zhang, adding that investors empathized with the practical need for virtual assets in emerging markets.

「在阿根廷和薩爾瓦多等通貨膨脹率較高的國家，虛擬資產有時被用作謀生手段，」執行長張表示，並補充說，投資者同情新興市場對虛擬資產的實際需求。

Jambo used the investment to launch the Web3 smartphone 'Jambo Phone' last year, collaborating with the blockchain network Aptos to enhance usability.

Jambo 去年利用這筆投資推出了 Web3 智慧型手機“Jambo Phone”，與區塊鏈網路 Aptos 合作以增強可用性。

The Jambo Phone comes pre-installed with applications (apps) necessary for virtual asset transactions, such as wallets, and also provides their self-developed artificial intelligence (AI) service 'JamboGPT'.

Jambo Phone預先安裝了錢包等虛擬資產交易所需的應用程式（app），並提供了自主開發的人工智慧（AI）服務「JamboGPT」。

The device is priced at $99 (approximately 140,000 won), which is more than half cheaper than competitor products like Solana Seeker ($500).

該設備的售價為 99 美元（約 14 萬韓元），比 Solana Seeker（500 美元）等競爭對手產品便宜一半以上。

"The low price is a strategy to increase blockchain accessibility in emerging markets such as Africa," said CEO Zhang, adding that they secured a large supply chain in China to lower hardware prices.

執行長張說：「低價是增加非洲等新興市場區塊鏈可及性的一項策略。」他補充說，他們在中國擁有龐大的供應鏈，以降低硬體價格。

The results are already visible. As of this month, Jambo Phone has sold over 710,000 units in 128 countries, just one year after its launch.

結果已經可見。截至本月，Jambo Phone 推出僅一年，已在 128 個國家售出超過 71 萬部。

Thanks to this sales performance, Jambo now operates branches in six African countries, including Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria.

由於這項銷售業績，Jambo 目前在肯亞、加納和奈及利亞等六個非洲國家設有分公司。

"Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, where smartphone penetration and bank usage are relatively low, are Jambo's target markets," said CEO Zhang, adding that they plan to open offline stores in several countries, including Brazil and Indonesia, over the next 2-3 years.

執行長張表示：「非洲、拉丁美洲和東南亞等智慧型手機普及率和銀行使用率相對較低的地區是Jambo 的目標市場。」他補充說，他們計劃未來在巴西和印尼等多個國家開設線下商店。

The 'expansion work' of the virtual asset ecosystem centered around Jambo Phone is also steadily progressing.

以Jambo Phone為中心的虛擬資產生態系統的「拓展工作」也在穩步推進。

First, Jambo signed a partnership with the US virtual asset exchange Coinbase at the end of last year to increase the utilization of on-chain services.

首先，Jambo去年底與美國虛擬資產交易所Coinbase簽署合作關係，以提高鏈上服務的使用率。

Jambo also issued its own token, Jambo (J), the day before (22nd). Jambo Token is listed on the global virtual asset exchange OKX.

Jambo 也在前一天（22 日）發行了自己的代幣 Jambo (J)。 Jambo Token在全球虛擬資產交易所OKX上市。

CEO Zhang cited 'distribution' as Jambo's vision.

執行長張先生將「分銷」視為詹博的願景。

"Jambo's target audience is potential customers in emerging markets who need virtual assets but are not familiar with them," said CEO James, adding that the long

執行長 James 表示：“Jambo 的目標受眾是新興市場中需要虛擬資產但不熟悉虛擬資產的潛在客戶。”