All posts tagged: MarketForce

MarketForce winds down its B2B e-commerce arm

MarketForce winds down its B2B e-commerce arm

Published by skeptic

Kenyan B2B e-commerce company MarketForce is winding down its B2B e-commerce business that served informal merchants (mom-and-pop stores) after a turbulent two-year period that saw it scale down operations severely. The shutdown of the B2B e-commerce arm dubbed RejaReja comes months after MarketForce withdrew the service from all its markets, including Nigeria and Kenya, save for Uganda. RejaReja was intended to enable informal retailers to order fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) from distributors and manufacturers, solving several challenges encountered by informal retailers such as stockout and financing. The marketplace, launched in 2020, hoped to tap the informal retail sector in the continent, which accounts for about 80% of household trade in sub-Saharan Africa. At its peak, it employed more than 800 people and served 270,000 informal merchants. MarketForce had raised $42.5 million, including $40 million debt-equity in a Series A round in 2022 at over $100 million valuation, to fuel the business. However, a mix of challenges — including aggressive expansion, a capital-intensive business model, razor-thin profit margins and a funding crunch after an investor reneged …

Last year was a tough period for African growth stage startups and 2024 presents mixed bag

Last year was a tough period for African growth stage startups and 2024 presents mixed bag

Published by skeptic

Last year presented a tough period for African tech startups. Venture capital was hard to bag (as predicted earlier), bridge and down rounds became the norm, and news of fire sales, layoffs and startup closures reverberated across the continent. With the overall amount of VC funding raised in Africa dipping significantly across the year, according to initial reports, after steady growth over the last decade (and the windfall of the previous two years), startups and scale-ups in the continent have suffered far-reaching consequences. Unshockingly, while capital became elusive from all fronts, growth-stage companies in Africa bore the brunt of the market correction, hot on the heels of a season of bountiful funding and high valuations. Companies such as South Africa’s WhereIsMyTransport, a mobility startup, and Sendy, a Kenyan logistics company, shut down after failing to raise fresh funding. WhereIsMyTransport had raised $27 million from VC heavyweights, including Google, SBI Investment and Toyota Tsusho Corporation. Sendy also counted Toyota in its investor line-up, which also had Atlantica Ventures leading its $20 million Series B round in …

MarketForce exits three markets, set to launch a social commerce spinout

MarketForce exits three markets, set to launch a social commerce spinout

Published by skeptic

Kenyan B2B e-commerce company MarketForce has shut down operations in three of its five markets in Africa and is in the early stages of launching a social commerce spinout. TechCrunch has learned that MarketForce’s super-app dubbed RejaReja, which enable informal retailers (mom-and-pop stores) to order fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) order directly from distributors and manufacturers and access financing, will only be available in Uganda after the company discontinued the offering in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania. However, Kenya will continue to serve as the company’s headquarters and a launchpad for Chpter, a social commerce tool that MarketForce has been building to enable merchants “turn conversations on their social media channels into more sales,” Tesh Mbaabu, who will double up as MarketForce and Chpter co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch while confirming the changes. MarketForce’s deceleration started last year when some VCs reneged on their Series A funding commitments, forcing the company to scale down operations and conduct multiple rounds of layoffs. The cash crunch came amidst the global venture capital downtime that has made raising …