Contactable Raises $13.5M to Drive Africa’s Digital Identity Expansion
The investment strengthens Contactable’s role in shaping the continent’s digital identity infrastructure.
Contactable , South Africa’s leading Integrated Digital Identity and e-KYC platform, has secured USD 13.5 million in new capital from a round led by Venture Capitalworks along with co-investors including Fireball Capital, Ke Nako Capital and MAVOVO to accelerate its Africa expansion strategy and commercialise its next generation of technologies.
For millions of Africans who lack formal identification, digital identity becomes the gateway to banking, telecoms and basic services. Africa’s Digital Identity solutions sector is expected to reach USD 3.4 billion by 2028. Contactable’s technology is designed to help accelerate this transformation.
The investment strengthens Contactable’s role in shaping the continent’s digital identity infrastructure. Established in 2012 with support from South Africa’s Technology Innovation Agency, the technology provides Identity for Enterprise solutions, and the company has grown into a trusted provider to blue-chip enterprises across financial services, telecoms, insurance, retail, motor finance and payments. Its platform provides a single point of integration for customer onboarding, identity verification, fraud reduction and compliance – enabling businesses to manage the entire digital lifecycle securely and seamlessly.
“This investment marks a pivotal moment in our mission to democratise digital identity across Africa. This investment is an exciting development for Contactable. It allows us to strengthen our platform and expand with our customers, while continuing to build the digital identity infrastructure that supports Africa’s growing digital economy. Partnering with Venture Capitalworks also supports the business to scale effectively, ensuring we are better positioned to unlock growth opportunities across the continent.”
– Shaun Strydom, CEO and founder, Contactable
Venture Capitalworks’ backing reflects its conviction-led investment approach: identifying high-growth market leaders and actively supporting management to scale them. The firm sees digital identity as one of the fastest-growing opportunities on the continent, given increasing digital channel usage, regulatory demands and the need for secure customer engagement.
“We believe Contactable is a regional leader in digital identity management, with a world-class founder driving its vision. Digital identity is at the heart of financial inclusion and digital transformation. Our strategy is to partner with proven leaders like Shaun and his team, bringing, beyond capital, the operational commitment to accelerate their growth. We could not have done this without our co-investors who are also LP’s in our fund. They supported our vision for the business and together we are a formidable capital partnership”
– Brent Shahim, Managing Partner, Venture Capitalworks
With the investment, Contactable will scale its presence across Africa and advance its product roadmap, which includes innovations in Ultimate Beneficial Ownership, AI, self-sovereign identity and payments integration.
“Contactable operates at the nexus of technology, regulation, and inclusion. This partnership with Venture Capitalworks will allow us to deepen our customer partnerships, extend our reach into underserved markets and enhance our ability to deliver secure, trusted digital identity solutions where they are needed most.”
– Shaun Strydom, CEO and founder, Contactable
