Kenya-based online supply chain platform Sokowatch has raised $14m in Series A funding. The B2B startup connects small retailers with multinational manufacturers including P&G and Unilever, enabling them to order products via SMS or mobile app, with delivery to their store.
Sokowatch launched in 2016 and operates in Kenya, as well as Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It is currently recruiting for a Country Finance Manager in Côte d’Ivoire. In 2018 Sokowatch raised $2m in a seed funding round. It claims to service 15,000 retailers.
With its new funding, it plans to develop its service proposition to include providing working capital and data analytics to its customers. Sokowatch’s key goal is to help small, informal retailers cut supply chain costs and improve margins.
It is the latest in a series of Kenya-based digital startups in the supply chain and retail space to attract significant funding – both Twiga and Copia have already raised tens of millions of dollars. Further afield, Cairo based startup MaxAB raised $6.2m in seed funding in September 2019 – the company provides a B2B online platform to helps small grocery store owners manage procurement and delivery of goods.
Retail across sub Saharan Africa is heavily based around traditional stores, with informal and often long supply chains with several stages of distributors, sub distributors, wholesalers and sub wholesalers. Even in Kenya, a relatively developed market, two thirds of grocery sales take place in traditional channels.
For this reason, funders have been heavily attracted to innovative digital platforms promising to transform inefficient and costly supply chains. The promise is both commercial (capture of market share) and social (bringing down the cost of basic goods). Kenya, especially, has positioned itself as a tech hub and a test bed market for disruptive business models.