South African workforce management startup Jem has raised $8.4m in a Series A round to grow its WhatsApp-based platform. The raise brings the company’s total disclosed funding to about $13.7m.
Quona Capital led the round. University Technology Fund, E4E, Next176/FutureGrowth and angel investors, including former Old Mutual chief executive Iain Williamson, also took part.
Jem was founded in 2020 as SmartWage and rebranded in 2022. It is led by co-founder and CEO Simon Ellis and co-founder and COO Caroline van der Merwe. The company now serves more than 250,000 frontline workers across over 200 employers, including facilities group Servest, KFC franchise operator Albimix, Meridian, The Capital, Edgars and Illovo.
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Johan Bosini, venture partner at Quona Capital, said Jem has shown strong product-market fit. “What ultimately convinced us was the combination of customer love and commercial execution. Employers increasingly view Jem as operational infrastructure rather than a standalone financial product. The company has grown rapidly while maintaining exceptional retention, demonstrating that the platform is solving a meaningful and recurring problem,” He explained
The Series A follows a $3.3m pre-Series A round led by Next176 in 2025, which included a R30m private debt facility, and a $2m seed round in 2022. Jem plans to launch Jem 2.0 next.
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Last updated: August 18, 2026
