The Kapu Africa Team. Image: Kapu Africa
Kenyan e-commerce startup, Kapu, has landed a pre-Series A funding in a funding round led by Blackwood and existing investors. The funding round also saw participation from Giant Ventures, firstminute capital, Norrsken VC, Founder Collective, Hesabu Capital, and Base Capital.This new injection of capital will enable Kapu, reputed for being an e-commerce startup that targets low-income consumers, to scale its operations across Africa.
Kapu was founded in 2022 former Jumia executive Sam Chapatte, with Stanislas Barth, chief growth officer, and Meera Dhanani, head of marketing. The core of the founding team being Jumia executives gives the startup a good foundation for growth. The company aims to reduce the cost of living for mass-market consumers by offering essential goods through a network of local agents, addressing the challenges of fragmented retail and logistical complexities in the region.
Kapu’s business model takes a neighborhood-based approach that was initially headquartered at Nairobi. The startup partners with local “Kommando” agents and small-format stores to optimize logistics and operations within specific urban and peri-urban areas. The locally-bound strategy is meant to test the waters and prove profitability before expanding outside national borders. Kapu’s model echoes elements of social commerce, leveraging local networks for distribution and sales.
Kapu boasts of serving 100,000 households per month and processing 2 million customer orders annually, claiming to have delivered $1m in savings to consumers. The company’s stated goal is to save African consumers $1bn over the next 10 years. African consumers spend an estimated 46 per cent of their income on groceries, which limits disposable income for other essential needs like education and investment.
Chappatte, Kapu’s chief executive, unveiled the company’s ambition to build a new retail model for Africa’s mass market. He emphasised the importance of investors who provide both operational space and strategic support.
Bastian R. Larsen, chief executive of BlackWood, mentioned Kapu’s potential to scale efficiently within Kenya’s fragmented retail landscape and its focus on Africa’s $500bn total addressable market as key investment drivers. He also pointed to the team’s experience at established players like Jumia and Grab as a significant asset.
The company’s early backers also include investors with experience in similar models in other markets, such as Meesho and Facily, alongside African family offices and prominent individual investors including Biz Stone, Ilkka Paananen, Tom Blomfield, and Alexander Rittweger. The fund will be deployed to improving Kapu’s go-to-market strategy, strengthen its logistics network, and introduce new fintech features. While the specific amount raised was not disclosed, it follows an $8m seed round in 2022.
