Kibanda TopUp, A Kenyan Startup, Raises $460k In Pre-seed Funding
Kibanda TopUp, a Kenyan startup, raises $460k in pre-seed funding
Kibanda TopUp, a Kenyan startup that aims to digitize the food supply chain for micro, small, and medium-sized restaurants throughout Africa, has raised $460k in a pre-seed round to expand its customer base.
The round was led by JAM Fund in the United States, with participation from Gregory Rockson, CEO of mPharma; Olugbenga GB Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave; Cem Garih, Managing Partner of Alarko Ventures; and several angel investors.
Local investors such as Rockson and Agboola’s involvement continue a growing trend of African investment in early-stage startups.
Njavwa Mutambo and Emilie Blauwhoff founded Kibanda in February 2021 to deliver goods directly to restaurants via electric tricycles assembled in Nairobi by their partner, ARC Ride.
Customers can place orders for grains, beverages, poultry, and beef via the app or SMS and receive them the following day.
The startup has reportedly served 130 restaurants since its inception — it will announce the 100th on May 31, 2021 — and intends to use the funding to hire critical team members in engineering and supply chain who will enable rapid growth and development of additional products.
Mutambo recently revealed plans to expand to Lagos in an interview with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, of which he is an alumnus.
“By assisting restaurants in reducing supply chain costs, we are increasing their contribution to Africa's GDP. We are redoubling our efforts in Kenya, and our next location will be Lagos – the reason being that we need to be where the majority of restaurants are, and Nigeria has a large number of these informal restaurants,” Mutambo explains.
Scalling through Challenges
Kibanda is confronted with the challenge of resolving logistics and transportation-related issues. To address the issue of transportation costs, the company utilizes electric tricycles in Kenya, which results in a 25% cost reduction.
With plans to expand into additional countries, this may present a scalability challenge, particularly in countries where it may not be able to leverage this to its advantage.
Mutambo has extensive experience in the logistics industry, having previously served as CEO of Musanga Logistics — a Zambia-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that connects shippers and carriers in real time — and as Global Lead for Product Operations at Lori Systems, a Kenya-based e-logistics company.
Rockson expresses confidence in the founders' vision based on Blauwhoff's entrepreneurial digital strategy and project management skills and Mutambo's logistics experience.
“Informal restaurants in African neighborhoods are the lifeblood of social commerce. Kibanda TopUp has an excellent opportunity to accelerate the transformation of these businesses into formal restaurant cooperatives in order to maximize economic opportunity. I'm excited about the team leading this journey because they have the experience and motivation necessary to build a massive business,” Rockson says.
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