Zambia’s Caantin Raises $4M to Scale Voice AI for Banks and Fintechs
Zambian startup Caantin is raising $4 million to scale its AI-powered voice infrastructure and expand beyond Africa into new markets, including Latin America.
Initially focused on general AI solutions, Caantin pivoted to voice-first call centre automation six months ago. Caantin currently generates nearly $1 million in monthly revenue and projects annual recurring revenue of $10 million by the end of 2025.
The startup’s system now handles over one million calls daily, with clients such as Carbon and Fairmoney. Caantin’s voice AI platform is particularly valuable in customer service operations like loan recovery, which are costly and operationally intensive for financial institutions.
“If these banks stop calling borrowers, they lose money,” said Caantin CEO Njawa Mutambo. “But managing that operation is expensive and fragile. AI is not a nice-to-have. It’s essential for scale.”
Despite charging a premium ₦185 ($0.12) per minute in Nigeria, about nine times higher than local telecom rates, Caantin’s solution is delivering significant cost savings. One client, Cowrywise, reportedly handled 100,000 customer calls in three months with only one human agent, a task that would typically require around 30 people.
Caantin estimates its solution delivers a 933% return on investment and a payback period of just 1.3 months. Mutambo, who previously raised $2.16 million for his earlier venture TopUp Mama, is leveraging his B2B logistics experience to build Caantin’s infrastructure with scalability in mind.
The company’s next focus is Latin America, where higher labour costs make AI automation even more attractive. “In Brazil, the cost of call centre labour is around $2 per hour. In Nigeria, it’s closer to 25 cents,” Mutambo said.
As competition rises from players like YC-backed Bland AI and Observe.AI, Caantin believes its advantage lies in supporting African languages and integrating with regional fintech platforms such as Paystack and Flutterwave.
“We are a telecoms business tailored to financial services. Their growth becomes our growth,” Mutambo said.