Grace Ashiru
This startup thinks that people’s communication in Africa should be very different. So they are getting their hands dirty with new help worth millions of dollars.
If the pan-African communication platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) company Termii had its way, digital communication in Africa would be decades ahead of the rest of the world regarding innovation.
The YC-backed company wants to change how African businesses and their customers talk to each other. To do this, it just raised $3.65 million. After getting $1.4 million in seed funding in January 2021, Ventures Platform, an Africa-focused VC firm, led Termii’s latest capital raise. This shows that investors are confident in the under-funded CPaaS market.
Termii is doing a lot of things right, which is why it is one of the few companies in this area to raise money. The company’s CEO, Gbolade Emmanuel, said, “Our product is not a nice-to-have; it’s a painkiller.” Fintech Collective, Launch Africa Ventures, Nama Ventures, New Venture Partners, Vastly Valuable Ventures, Aidi Ventures, NOA Capital, Assembly Investors, Ralicap Ventures, Probability Ventures, Adamantium Fund, MyAsia VC, Uncovered Fund, and Afropreneur Angel Group were among the other investors who joined the round. Angel investors like Aubrey Hruby of Tofino Capital and Eamon Jubbawy of Onifido also put their names on Termii’s cap table.
Termii was started in 2017 as a messaging product that lets businesses talk to their users on multiple platforms. Since then, its product suite has changed to become a one-stop shop that helps businesses and their users talk to each other. If you’ve ever tried to pay through a fintech platform like Paystack and had to wait for an OTP text message, then you’ve probably used Termi.
The Termii framework allows users to communicate quickly and securely with about 9,000 fintechs like Moniepoint, Chipper Cash, and Piggyvest. Gbolade thinks that the fact that his startup helps African fintechs with their day-to-day tasks is a big edge that investors, like Fintech Collective, who took part in the round, are interested in. Termini says its list of over 10,000 customers comprises companies from many fields, such as logistics and health tech.
Gbolade said that Termii Go, the company’s newest product, which he called a “game-changing unified communications app,” convinced investors to back the business. Termii Go, which will be released to the public this month, is a step up from the secret infrastructure operations that Termii usually does.
The app combines Termii’s extensive network of clients from all over Africa on a single platform, making it easy for companies and users to connect quickly and in real-time. This gives companies both a CRM tool and a mobile communications infrastructure.
Termini Go also improves traditional text messaging, which bad actors could read or intercept. This ensures that private information isn’t exposed, even if a device is lost or stolen. The product can send texts through partnerships with phone makers like Tecno and Infinix without going through third-party messaging gateways and more quickly.
The most exciting thing about Termii Go might be that it connects to current mobile virtual operators and lets users use an electronic SIM card to make and receive calls or link to the internet anywhere in the world. This part is still a business-to-business play that makes it easier and cheaper for teams to talk to each other.
During a call with TechCabal, Gbolade talked about the product. He said, “There’s nothing like ours on the African market. We’re bringing world-class innovation to the communications industry, which has been run by just a few big companies in the past. At Termini, our goal is to rethink and improve communication for Africans. So far, we’ve only scratched the surface.”
By 2026, the global CPaas market is expected to bring in $34.75 billion, which is a CAGR of 38% growth. In Africa, where the market is still taking shape, companies like Termini, Africa’s Talking, Beem, and SendChamp have a lot of market share. Africa’s Talking, based in Kenya, has raised the most money, with more than $8.6 million. But Gbolade disagrees that there are direct rivals. “With this new play, we’ve been able to fly past our usual rivals.”
We now have “fractional competitors,” he defined as “players from different industries who offer parts of our one-stop-shop solution.” Termini Go also improves traditional text messaging, which bad actors could read or intercept. This ensures that private information isn’t exposed, even if a device is lost or stolen. The product can send texts through partnerships with phone makers like Tecno and Infinix without going through third-party messaging gateways and more quickly.
The most exciting thing about Termii Go might be that it connects to current mobile virtual operators and lets users use an electronic SIM card to make and receive calls or connect to the internet anywhere in the world. This part is still a business-to-business play that makes it easier and cheaper for teams to talk to each other.
During a call with TechCabal, Gbolade talked about the product. He said, “There’s nothing like ours on the African market. We’re bringing world-class innovation to the communications industry, which has been run by just a few big companies in the past. At Termini, our goal is to rethink and improve communication for Africans. So far, we’ve only scratched the surface.”
By 2026, the global CPaas market is expected to bring in $34.75 billion, which is a CAGR of 38% growth. The market is still taking shape in Africa, but Termii, Africa’s Talking, Beem, and SendChamp are the biggest players.
Africa’s Talking, based in Kenya, has raised the most money, with more than $8.6 million. But Gbolade disagrees that there are direct rivals. “We’ve blown past our usual competition thanks to this new play. We now have “fractional competitors,” he defined as “players from different industries who offer parts of our one-stop-shop solution.”
Gbolade told TechCabal that this “higher degree of certainty” is made possible by an internal technology called ICS. This technology works smartly to find outages before they happen and send traffic to other lines.
After getting more money in 2021, Termii went to Algeria and started doing business there. However, strict regulations drove the company to focus on other growth areas, primarily francophone Africa, where it is now putting down more roots.
With the money it raised recently, the company wants to expand, especially in Francophone Africa, with a focus on Ivory Coast, according to a press release.
Termini runs a per-billing payment system so that it can make money. Businesses put money into the wallet, and as calls and texts are sent to their users, the money is taken out of the wallet. This model shows that the CPaas model needs to be efficient because businesses usually spend money on people before they are onboarded.
This means that a communications company that isn’t reliable would have to pay to get people who might leave after the first time they talk to the company. For Termini, getting more people to use them means getting involved with the tech community. The startup’s annual Termii Elevate program brings together developers, users, and partners to talk about how to make world-class communications solutions.
With Emmanuel Gbolade and Ayomide Awe, Termii’s technical leaders, in charge, this move is almost a copy of Paystack, Africa’s most prominent fintech company. But according to the CEO, “Termii is on a unique road that will lead to innovation in Africa’s communications space. We’re always 10 steps ahead of the game.
