Tech in Africa
Several African e-commerce B2B companies received record investments in 2021. Nigeria TradeDepot completed a $110M Serie B, Sabi raised a $6M bridge round, Egypt’s Alerzo raised a $10.5M Serie A, Omnibiz raised $3M, and others have had incredible runs as they work to digitize and optimize Africa’s informal market sector.
Namibia B2B e-commerce startup JABU closed a $3.2 million financing seed round last year. The investment drew participation from investors Afore Capital, FJ Labs, Y Combinator, Kli Capital, Quiet Capital, Pareto Capital, and several unnamed angels. The company, with over 200 employees is gearing for a Serie A later this year.
This last-mile distribution e-commerce company adds to a list of startups across Africa helping small retailers order and stock their products while providing data-driven services to their suppliers and manufacturers.
David Akinin joined JABU in mid-2020 with the intent to fix the country’s almost inefficient and almost non-existent supply chain and distribution. JABU is looking to connect 6,000 local and multinational suppliers while digitizing the order, payment, and logistics process.
JABU operates a vehicle fleet with eight distribution centers. Suppliers operating the platform have dashboards that see where products are being delivered, observe key performance indicators, and book merchandise. For most of last year, JABU has operated in stealth mode. The company is also a previous member of Y Combinator.
Source: TechCrunch
