Tech in Africa
Ivorian B2B startup Afrikrea – now rebranded to ANKA, has completed a $6.2M pre-Series A led by Investisseurs & Partenaires. Other participants in the round are, Joe Tsai Alibaba Group Vice Chairman, VestedWorld, BestSeller Foundation, Groupe Prunay, Enigmo, and Rising Tide Africa, existing investors such as Saviu Ventures. Other backers of Afrikrea are Kepple Africa Ventures, LoftyInc Capital Management, Consonance Investment Managers, id4 Ventures, and Thierry Petit. The investment will go towards building mobile infrastructure for its Saas e-commerce product and hiring.
Founded in 2016, Afrikrea – now ANKA had earlier raised $1.9 million. During its inception, the company ran an African-inspired marketplace for clothing, accessories art, and craft. The business later pivoted to become a Saas solution provider targeting the continent’s micro-retailers. The company’s founders are the CEO Moulaye Taboure, Abdoul Kadry Diallo, and Luc B. Perussault Diallo (CTO).
Afrikrea is just one of the features of ANKA’s website. ANKA offers users an omnichannel dashboard where one can monitor sales and inventory across all its channels. ANKA also has an online customizable storefront similar to Shopify. Sellers are linked to social media profiles and marketplace channels such as PayPal or Gumroad. In addition, there also have access to shipping via DHL, can receive payments in several currencies – including a buy now pay later option.
As per a TechCrunch article, the company’s marketplace has experienced a 250% Y-o-Y growth since launch, receives over 700,000 monthly visits, and has transacted over $35 million on the platform. According to ANKA, buyers are drawn from 174 countries with the majority based in North America and Europe.
The app is free for sellers to set up their product catalogs and generate payment links. However, once a seller decides to use this app to accept payments or effect a sale, they part with a €10 (~$12) monthly subscription fee. The sellers also incur €10 (~$12) for the platform’s shipping and web hosting service.
Source: TechCrunch
