Ham Serunjogi

Ham Serunjogi (born December 2, 1993) is a Ugandan entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash, a financial technology company that offers cross-border payment services in Africa. ^{[1] [2]}

Early life and education

Serunjogi was born and raised in Uganda. He attended the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, where he served as president of the Student Representative Council. During this time, he also represented Uganda in swimming at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. ^{[3] [4]} After completing his secondary education, Serunjogi received a scholarship to study in the United States. He attended Grinnell College in Iowa, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in Economics in 2016. ^[5] While at Grinnell, he was an active member of the swim team and co-developed an app that allowed users to send short, encrypted voice recordings. ^{[6] [7] [3]}

Career

After graduating, Serunjogi worked at Meta's office in Dublin, Ireland. In 2018, he co-founded Chipper Cash with Maijid Moujaled, whom he had met at Grinnell College, a platform which provides cross-border payment services across Africa. ^{[1] [8]} The platform expanded its operations to several countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and United States. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

In 2023, Serunjogi was appointed as Inaugural Member of President Biden’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States. ^{[12] [13]}

Chipper Cash

Serunjogi’s startup Chipper Cash attracted investment from venture capital firms. In 2020, it raised $13.8 million in Series A funding round led by Deciens Capital. ^[14] The company raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Bezos Expeditions, the personal venture capital fund of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. ^[15] This investment was reported as Bezos's first significant investment in an African startup. ^[16] By 2021, Chipper Cash secured an additional $100 million in a Series C round led by SVB Capital. ^[17] The company raised over $300 million in funding from investors bringing its valuation to over $1 billion and achieving unicorn status. ^{[18] [19]}

Recognition

In 2023, Serunjogi was included in Forbes' "30 Under 30" list in finance category. ^{[20] [1]}

References

1. Kauflin, Jeff. "How Two Africans Overcame Bias To Build A Startup Worth Billions". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
2. "How One Founder Is Democratizing Mobile Payments Across Nations". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
3. "Ham Serunjogi: Blazing a path across three continents | Aga Khan Academies". www.agakhanacademies.org. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
4. "Ham Serunjogi: Aga Khan Academy alum gains notice". Aga Khan Development Network. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
5. "Ham Serunjogi '16 Named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Finance for 2023". Grinnell College. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
6. "Ham Serunjogi". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
7. "Ham Serunjogi - Men's Swimming and Diving". Grinnell College Athletics. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
8. Kauflin, Jeff. "Inside Chipper Cash's Grueling Battle To Survive The Fintech Winter". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
9. "Jack Dorsey's Payment System Expands in Africa With Chipper Cash". Bloomberg.com. 2024-05-15. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
10. "Chipper Cash is "fully operational" in the United States after months of pausing services". 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
11. Bright, Jake (2019-09-05). "SF-based African fintech startup Chipper Cash expands to Nigeria". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
12. "Ham Serunjogi '16 to Serve as Inaugural Member of President Biden's Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States". Grinnell College. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
13. "Chipper Cash CEO, Serunjogi and 2 Nigerians appointed to Joe Biden's Advisory Council". 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
14. Bright, Jake (2020-06-17). "African payment startup Chipper Cash raises $13.8M Series A". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
15. Bright, Jake (2020-11-19). "African fintech startup Chipper Cash raises $30M backed by Jeff Bezos". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
16. Kazeem, Yomi (2020-11-19). "Jeff Bezos just became the latest big tech name to invest in an African fintech startup". Quartz. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
17. Kene-Okafor, Tage (2021-05-31). "SVB-led $100M investment makes Chipper Cash Africa's 'most valuable startup'". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
18. Benson, Emmanuel Abara (2021-11-17). "EXCLUSIVE: Having raised $250m in 2021, Ham Serunjogi talks Chipper Cash's global expansion". Business Insider Africa. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
19. Kene-Okafor, Tage (2021-11-02). "Chipper Cash gets $2B valuation with $150M extension round led by FTX". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
20. "Forbes 30 Under 30 2023: Finance". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-16.