B2B e-commerce startup in Kenya MarketForce has closed operations in three of its five markets in Africa. The startup exits Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania and will now remain operational only in Kenya and Uganda with Kenya remaining its headquarters.
Details
According to a report with Kenya’s WallStreetthe company is now exploring other business models that include venturing into the social commerce space.
“Marketforce has reduced its operations in other markets and now only operates in Kenya and Uganda“, CEO Tesh Mbaabuhe said Kenya’s WallStreet.
Record
MarketForce was founded in 2018 by Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti to enable informal traders in Africa to order, pay and receive inventory digitally and conveniently, access finance, collect digital payments and make extra money by reselling digital financial services such as voice, electricity tokens and bill payments.
MarketForce runs a light-weight operating model with its commerce super app, RejaReja – which offers merchants informal next-day deliveries for hundreds of SKUs from leading FMCG brands.
Digging deeper
Marketforce is among the African startups hit by a drought financing forcing it to explore alternative avenues for financial support and revenue generation.
Recent data published by Disrupt Africa shows that African tech startups saw a significant decrease in capital raised in the 1st quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2023, African startups raised $649 million, while in the same period in 2022, startups raised $1.5 billion.
Mbaabu says so narrow gain This was also helped by profit margins in demanding markets such as Nigeria, where service costs are high and competition is fierce.
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