African HR-Tech Startup Jahazii Raises $400,000 to Advance Payroll and Financial Inclusion Platform

African HR and fintech startup Jahazii  has announced the successful close of a $400,000 pre-seed funding round, marking a major milestone in its mission to build Africa’s Workforce Operating System. The round saw participation from Antler, DEG Impulse, Jozi Angels, Innovest Afrika, and a network of prominent angel investors.

The fresh capital injection will accelerate Jahazii’s efforts to unify human resources, payroll, and embedded financial services into a single digital platform designed to promote financial inclusion for Africa’s largely informal workforce. By integrating financial products directly into payroll systems, the company aims to simplify HR operations for employers while providing workers with faster and more equitable access to financial tools.

Jahazii’s model addresses one of the continent’s most pressing challenges — informality in employment. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 87% of jobs remain informal, with workers often earning wages without contracts, labor protections, or access to affordable financial services. The startup’s technology bridges this gap by embedding financial access into the employment relationship, allowing employees to access earned wages, savings, and insurance seamlessly through their employer’s payroll system.

For employers, Jahazii’s solution delivers streamlined HR processes, automated payroll management, and improved compliance with labor and tax regulations. By digitizing and centralizing workforce operations, the platform reduces administrative burdens and enables organizations to focus more on productivity and employee well-being.

The company’s funding success reflects growing investor confidence in Africa’s emerging HR and financial technology ecosystem. As the continent experiences rapid digital transformation, integrated workforce solutions like Jahazii’s are positioned to redefine how employers manage teams and how employees engage with financial services.

This pre-seed milestone lays the foundation for Jahazii’s next phase of growth, which includes expanding its technology capabilities, scaling partnerships with employers across multiple markets, and deepening its impact on workforce formalization and financial inclusion. The company envisions a future where every worker in Africa, regardless of their employment status, can access the tools needed to achieve financial stability and security.

With this funding, Jahazii is poised to play a pivotal role in reshaping the future of work and financial empowerment across Africa — creating a connected, inclusive, and digitized workforce ecosystem for the next generation.