Finnish messaging app Jongla has raised additional 5 million euros for its global expansion.
Jongla has been growing fast in the emerging markets, with most of its features designed to target low-end smartphones users on prepaid plans. Jongla claims to be the world’s lightest messaging app, saying it uses 80% less data than Viber and 25% less than Facebook Messenger.
“With the new capital and through new strategic partnerships, our aim is to further leverage AI and bots that we believe will revolutionise messaging between businesses and consumers,” said Jongla founder and investor Arto Boman.
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The company plans to also further strengthen its position as the go-to messaging app for emerging markets. By 2020 there will be 6 billion smartphone users worldwide as the people in new markets access the mobile Internet and adopt messaging through apps.
“We have seen rapid growth this year, driven by the demand for light and social apps in emerging markets”, says Riku Salminen, CEO of Jongla. “This Autumn alone, our users have sent three times the amount of messages – the uplift has been huge. Among our top countries are now Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, Iran, India and Indonesia – all emerging markets, which alone cover 2 billion of total population.”
