African Startup, MarketForces Gets N16.6 Billion Funding to Expand Across Africa

African Startup, MarketForces Gets N16.6 Billion Funding to Expand Across Africa

  • Kenyan retail startup, MarketForces has notched up a N16.6 billion investment to grow its services across Africa
  • The company secured the funding through a conglomeration of Venture Capital firms which invested in the company's operations
  • The company said it wants to integrate a buy-now-pay later feature in its business model to make easy for traders to secure goods

A Kenyan Startup, MarketForces, has raised N16.6 billion to accelerate its growth across major markets in Africa.

The retail distributor said it is hoping to expand into Nigeria, Kenya and beyond as it eyes other markets in East and West Africa.

Founders of Market Forces
Founders of Market Forces Credit: MarketForces
Source: UGC

The investment comes seven months after MarketForces raised N830 million in pre-seed funding led by V8 Capital Partners, a London and Lagos-based Africa-centric investment platform.

Others who participated in the funding include Ken Njoroge, Cellulant co-founder becomes the companies board chairman as well as Ten13 VC, SOSV Select Fund, Vu Ventures, Vastly Valuable Ventures and Uncovered Fund.

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A new product feature to help retailers

According to the company, it intends to introduce a buy-now-pay-later alternative to allow easy access to FMCGs on credit.

Taking advantage of its merchant app, RejaReja, the firm intends to enable digital payment for informal traders from getting goods to digital payments and loans.

Tesh Mbalu co-founder and CEO said the aim of MarketForces is to aid small businesses to grow by giving loans for them to have access to goods via inventory financing, overdraft facility which allows businesses to order goods and pay later after selling.

He stated that the firm is very intentional about increasing working capital, which is why it raised some debts as it added that it is looking at the fintech angle as one of its biggest markets for the next phase of the business,

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What they are saying about the funding

The company is also working to bring insurance, savings, and investment to strengthen financial services on the African continent.

According to him, MarketForce is also working to bring insurance, savings and investment on board to strengthen financial services in Africa.

Two-month-old company, Earnipay receives N1.6bn investment

Legit.ng has reported that a two-month-old Nigerian fintech solutions company, EarniPay has secured an investment of N1.660 billion to accelerate its services and provide flexible and on-demand access to salary earners.

The investment round is led by Cannan with participation from XYZ Ventures, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Ventures Platform and payment solutions company, Paystack.

According to Nairametrics, Earnipay was officially launched in January 2022 and intends to use the investment to improve employees financial welfare. It collaborates with employers and effortlessly adds to their payroll systems and offers its services to employees who can track and withdraw their accumulated salaries through the platform.

Source: Legit.ng

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