刚果的“Web3 初创公司”Jambo

“Jambo Phone”仅一年就售出了71万部。与美国交易所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.

刚果 Web3 初创公司 Jambo 的首席执行官 James 张在青少年时期就亲身体验过非洲金融基础设施的困难。

"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."

“我试图从一家刚果银行向加纳的一位朋友汇款，但遇到了三个障碍：排长队、高昂的费用和无休止的延误。”

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.

这些经历使首席执行官张先生得出结论，必须有一个现有金融体系的替代方案，因为向另一个国家汇款不应该这么复杂。

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

Jambo 由首席执行官张于 2021 年创立，他在纽约大学学习计算机工程期间的一次讲座中接触到了比特币 (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.

“这次讲座激发了我对虚拟资产的兴趣，当我毕业时，我对虚拟资产的未来充满信心，”首席执行官张说。

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

随后，他管理了一个虚拟资产基金四年，但他为非洲金融基础设施做出贡献的愿望仍未实现。

"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."

“我对虚拟资产产生了兴趣，因为我看到了改善非洲金融基础设施的潜力，”首席执行官张表示，“我相信仅靠投资并不能充分发挥虚拟资产的潜力。”

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

他最终决定返回祖国刚果，并于 2021 年创立 Jambo。

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

与其他 Web3 初创公司不同，CEO 张选择专注于硬件（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)."

“引入虚拟资产的基本障碍是这个领域很复杂并且缺乏用户友好的工具，”首席执行官张解释道，“这就是为什么我决定创建具有更高可访问性的移动设备，而不仅仅是开发软件（SW）。”

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

Jambo 在 2022 年获得了 3000 万美元（约 440 亿韩元）的 A 轮融资。

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轮投资由虚拟资产风险投资（VC）Paradigm领投，主要投资者包括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.

该公司当时的估值为2亿美元（约3000亿韩元），这是公司成立大约一年后达到的成就。

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

投资者被新兴市场的潜力所吸引，特别是非洲虚拟资产市场的巨大增长潜力。

"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.

首席执行官张表示：“非洲 14 亿人口中有 75% 是 35 岁以下的年轻人。”他强调了以 Web3 和区块链等新技术为中心的市场潜力。

"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.

“非洲是全球年轻人口比例最高的国家，约50%的人口无法正常获得银行服务。”张先生解释道，过去十年非洲移动设备使用量的爆发式增长也发挥了重要作用。角色。

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

由于货币不稳定，使用虚拟资产作为“对冲通胀”的案例也越来越多。

"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.

“在阿根廷和萨尔瓦多等通货膨胀率较高的国家，虚拟资产有时被用作谋生手段，”首席执行官张表示，并补充说，投资者同情新兴市场对虚拟资产的实际需求。

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

Jambo 去年利用这笔投资推出了 Web3 智能手机“Jambo Phone”，与区块链网络 Aptos 合作以增强可用性。

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预装了钱包等虚拟资产交易所需的应用程序（app），并提供了自主开发的人工智能（AI）服务“JamboGPT”。

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

该设备的售价为 99 美元（约 14 万韩元），比 Solana Seeker（500 美元）等竞争对手产品便宜一半以上。

"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.

首席执行官张说：“低价是增加非洲等新兴市场区块链可及性的一项策略。”他补充说，他们在中国拥有庞大的供应链，以降低硬件价格。

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.

结果已经可见。截至本月，Jambo Phone 推出仅一年，已在 128 个国家售出超过 710,000 部。

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

得益于这一销售业绩，Jambo 目前在肯尼亚、加纳和尼日利亚等六个非洲国家设有分支机构。

"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.

首席执行官张表示：“非洲、拉丁美洲和东南亚等智能手机普及率和银行使用率相对较低的地区是 Jambo 的目标市场。”他补充说，他们计划未来在巴西和印度尼西亚等多个国家开设线下商店。 2-3年。

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

以Jambo Phone为中心的虚拟资产生态系统的“拓展工作”也在稳步推进。

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去年底与美国虚拟资产交易所Coinbase签署合作伙伴关系，以提高链上服务的利用率。

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）发行了自己的代币 Jambo (J)。 Jambo Token在全球虚拟资产交易所OKX上市。

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

首席执行官张先生将“分销”视为詹博的愿景。

"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

首席执行官 James 表示：“Jambo 的目标受众是新兴市场中需要虚拟资产但不熟悉虚拟资产的潜在客户。”