Pricepally, the Nigerian food buying platform where consumers can group together to get bulk discounts, has raised a raised a six-digit pre-seed funding round. The company is now looking to move into new markets, including Abuja and Port Harcourt. It is also reportedly looking at Nairobi.

Pricepally was launched in November 2019 but come of age in 2021 as food price inflation has surged. The cooperative platform aims to solve that by allowing consumers to band together to get bulk discounts, and by connecting farmers and wholesalers directly with consumers.

The impact of COVID-19 on supply chains has had a noticeable effect on the price of food. According to the latest data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food price inflation increased to 21.7% year on year in February 2021, an increase on the 20.4% year on year growth registered in January 2021. In February 2021, food price inflation was 14.9%.

Pricepally previously secured an undisclosed amount of investment from GreenTec Capital in July 2020. It says that its sales have tripled in the past 12 months. This new pre-seed investment round has come from Japanese VC Samurai Incubate and early-stage VC fund Launch Africa Ventures.

Samurai Incubate Africa was founded in May 2018 and has a portfolio of 26 African startups covering fintech, logistics, sourcing, healthcare and energy. In April 2021, it closed its Samurai Africa 2nd General Partnership fund at over JP¥2bn ($18.4m), which will be used to fund for pre-seed, seed and Series A investments in African tech startups. One investor in its Samurai Africa 2nd General Partnership fund is Toyota Tsusho Corporation, owner of CFAO (Carrefour’s partner in West Africa).

Launch Africa Ventures also has a significant portfolio of African startups spanning multiple sectors, with coverage across 8 countries.