Talk360

Talk360 operates a mobile international calling application that lets users buy credit and place calls to any mobile or landline number worldwide. The service is built so that the call recipient needs neither internet access, a smartphone, nor the app itself, which the company positions as a response to the roughly 41% of the world's population without reliable internet connectivity. Calls are made over WiFi or 3G/4G/5G, the user's own phone number is displayed on caller ID, and there is no subscription — users pay only for minutes consumed. The app also supports global mobile top-ups, letting users send airtime and data bundles to recipients in more than 100 countries, a capability the company is expanding under the name Shop360, described as covering more than 180 countries.

A second strand of the business is payments. While rolling out the calling app in South Africa, the company identified that a majority of African consumers cannot purchase international digital services because of fragmented local payment cultures and 54 different currencies. Talk360 responded by supporting a wide range of local payment methods, generic vouchers and its own Talk360 vouchers, and in 2024 co-launched NjiaPay, described as a single-checkout payment platform combining local currencies and payment methods across Africa, intended to let African consumers buy digital services previously unavailable to them. The company also runs super user and agent referral programmes in several countries and frames its work against three UN Sustainable Development Goals (no poverty; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure).

Founding story

Talk360 was created in 2016 by co-founders Hans Osnabrugge, Jorne Schamp and Dean Hiine — a South African venture builder working with two Dutch entrepreneurs — around the premise that reliable, affordable international calling should be available to people without internet access or smartphones. The team's focus on Africa is attributed both to co-founder Dean Hiine's South African background and to where the founders believed the greatest impact could be made.

Business model

Consumer prepaid model: users purchase call credit in local currency and are charged per-minute rates by destination, with no subscription. The company also sells mobile airtime and data top-ups for delivery to recipients abroad. Distribution is supported by local payment methods, generic and branded vouchers, and agent/super-user referral programmes that pay agents for distributing credit and referring customers.

Revenue derives from prepaid call credit sold to consumers and consumed at per-destination per-minute rates (for example, quoted rates of $0.04/min to Mexico, India and the United States, $0.22/min to South African mobiles and $0.13/min to Nigerian mobiles), plus sales of airtime and data top-ups.

Traction

The company reports connecting 4.9 million people in 2024 and reach across more than 190 countries; press coverage cites growth from 2.3 million users to 4 million connected in 2023, with a stated goal of seven million people by 2025 alongside profitability. The Android app lists over 5 million downloads and 46.8K reviews at a 4.8 rating, while the company's site cites 4.4 (Google Play), 4.3 (Apple App Store) and 30,000+ reviews.

Latest developments

In February 2026 Talk360 announced a $1.4 million secondary investment led by HAVAÍC, supported by Universum Wealth, a limited partner in HAVAÍC's $50 million African Innovation Fund 3. Proceeds are earmarked for user-experience improvements and the continued build-out of Shop360, which lets users send mobile airtime, data bundles and top-ups to more than 180 countries. Hans Osnabrugge is identified as CEO.