Africa presents vast opportunities in e-commerce. A report by Standard Chartered states that Kenya and Uganda were the first countries in the continent to introduce mobile payments in the mid-2000s. Africa has about 631 online marketplaces, which witnessed over 2.2 billion visits in 2019.
With the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the usage of e-commerce sites by the common people, let’s get to know the top 10 e-commerce startups in Africa:
1. Twiga Foods
Founders: Grant Brooke, Peter Njonjo, Kikonde Mwatela
Founding Year: 2013
Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya
Funding received: US$ 107.1M
Investors: Goldman Sachs, Omidyar Network, International Finance Corporation, Google Launchpad Accelerator, 1776 Ventures, Wamda Capital, IFC Venture Capital Group, TLcom Capital Partners, GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator, OPIC – Overseas Private Investment Corporation and 9 other investors
Twiga Foods is a B2B e-commerce platform that takes produce directly from farmers and delivers it to urban retailers. Its mobile-based supply platform serves Africa’s retail outlets, kiosks, and market stalls. Its platform has enabled millions of small and medium-sized vendors in African urban markets to get access to quality products.
2. Copia Global
Founders: Crispin Murira, Tracey Turner
Founding Year: 2012
Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya
Funding received: US$ 53M
Investors: DCVC, Endeavor Catalyst, Nimble Ventures, Savannah Fund, Lightrock, Goodwell Investments, DOB Equity, Opes Impact Fund, U.S. International Development Finance Corp, Perivoli Innovations
Copia Global provides a consumer catalogue order and delivery system. Its service utilizes mobile technologies and a network of agents serving as distribution points, enabling rural and semi-urban consumers to get a wide range of quality goods at reasonable prices.
3. Jiji
Founders: Anton Wolyansky, Mykola Zorin, Vladimir Mnogoletniy
Founding Year: 2014
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
Funding received: US$ 21M
Investors: Digital Spring Ventures, Allrise Capital, Knuru Capital
Jiji is an online marketplace that enables buyers and sellers to meet and exchange goods and services. In 2018, the Jiji app was the most downloaded app in the shopping category in the Nigerian region, and it is also currently the highest-rated app in Nigerian e-commerce.
4. TradeDepot
Founders: Michael Ukpong, Onyekachi Izukanne, Ruke Awaritefe
Founding Year: 2015
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
Funding received: US$ 13M
Investors: Partech, MSA Capital, IFC Venture Capital Group
TradeDepot is an end-to-end distribution platform that connects the world’s top consumer goods companies directly to African vendors. The startup’s goal is to build the largest retail distribution network in Africa. It is on a mission to improve milk distribution to smaller vendors in the African continent, leveraging technology. Currently, the startup is scaling the same technology to improve the distribution of food, beverages and personal care products to retailers, and to also improve their livelihoods.
5. MaxAB
Founders: Belal EL-Megharbel, Mohamed Ben Halim
Founding Year: 2017
Headquarters: Cairo, Egypt
Funding received: US$ 6.2M
Investors: 500 Startups, BECO Capital, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Outlierz Ventures
MaxAB is a B2B e-commerce marketplace that connects food and grocery dealers to suppliers in Egypt’s most under-served locations. It restructures the food and grocery market, leveraging data-driven technologies and state-of-the-art supply chains. It is on a mission to empower Egyptian retailers by providing them access to a wide range of products, premium service, and operational support. Its tech-driven supply chain is helping put the correct amount of food at the right place at the right time.
6. Cars45
Founders: Peter Lindholm, Sujay Tyle
Founding Year: 2016
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
Funding received: US$ 5M
Investors: New Enterprise Associates, Balderton Capital, TPG Growth, EchoVC Partners, Frontier Car Group
Cars45 buys, sells, prices, and rates the condition of pre-owned vehicles. Owners enter their vehicle information on the Cars45 site for a free quote. They can then schedule an appointment at one of the startup’s 13 inspection centres in Nigeria. After multiple evaluations including engine, brakes, tires, and a road-test, Cars45 makes an offer. If accepted, the startup commits to wire payment to the owner’s bank account within 45 minutes. After pricing and creating a digital service history, Cars45 offers the vehicles it purchases to a private network of buyers.
7. ExpandCart
Founders: Amr Shawqy, Sameh Nabil, Yasser seleem
Founding Year: 2013
Headquarters: Cairo, Egypt
Funding received: US$ 2.7M
Investors: Betatron Venture Group, Graphene Ventures, Sawari Ventures, Agility Ventures
ExpandCart is the leading Arabic e-commerce platform in the Middle East. Since its inception, ExpandCart has acquired hundreds of clients ranging from individuals & small companies to enterprise-level corporations, creating impressive traction and success for its clients.
8. Sendbox
Founders: Emotu Balogun, Olusegun Afolahan
Founding Year: 2016
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria
Funding received: US$ 125K
Investors: Y Combinator, Microtraction
Sendbox is a platform that provides infrastructure for shipping, escrow payments and discovery services to merchants and customers in North America, Europe and Africa, who participate in e-commerce on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook & WhatsApp.
9. Wicks
Founders: Abdelrahman Bdeir
Founding Year: 2020
Headquarters: Cairo, Egypt
Funding received: US4 103.2K
Wicks is an e-commerce startup that offers a new virtual marketplace with new buying techniques and a novel shopping experience to its users. By leveraging augmented reality, it has built a new virtual marketplace with new shopping techniques and end-user shopping experiences.
10. Farmhut
Founders: Kumbirai Tagwireyi, Munyaradzi Makosa, Ryan Katayi
Founding Year: 2017
Headquarters: Harare, Zimbabwe
Funding received: US$ 100K
Investors: Hult Prize Foundation
Farmhut is the largest farm-to-folk marketplace in Zimbabwe. It is an online platform whose mission is to revolutionize the food supply systems across Africa. It supports smallholder farmers to achieve productivity and profitability.
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Hey! I’m Abdelrahman from Wicks. I guess there’s missed info on behalf of Wicks. Our headquarter is in Cairo, Egypt, our investor is Angel Effect, and I guess you may fined a suitable description for Wicks from Wicks profile on LinkedIn.
After all, Thank Aishwarya for your effort
Abdelrahman
Hi Abdelrahman Bdeir, my name is Faisal I would like to talk to you to request for some advice.
[…] Top 10 E-commerce Startups in Africa […]
Hello,
I will be launching an ecommerce that offers Ugandan online buyers direct access to products from the UAE, US, china and other big markets.
The ecommerce is making online shopping easier, convenient and much more reliable in Uganda and East Africa at large
Apart from that we are partnering with one of the major banks to offer online asset financing.
NOW; we need some funding and investors.
Anyone interested kindly email me at mzafaisal@yahoo.com