Tech in Africa
TradeDepot has announced a $10 million capital investment from a new round led by Partech, IFC – International Finance Corporation, Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), MSA Capital, and Chandaria Capital. It is worth noting that the first business model attracted a $3 million investment courtesy of Partech back in 2018. The e-commerce startup is renowned for connecting international brands to small businesses across the continent. Equipped with new capital they can actualize the expansion of their business into credit offerings and financial services for retailers. Most of the customers lack a credit score but there are ways TradeDepot believes they can create a credit score from their data pool and existing relationships.
TradeDepot helps manufacturers and key distributors stock their goods to millions of retail stores across the continent. The client provides the assets and TradeDepot provides a fleet of tricycles and vans alongside fully trained and certified drivers, maintenance and management services, daily trip management, and market penetration. The TradeDepot B2B platforms ensure products are accessible for retail stores to order at any time. This ensures a steady market supply of products and goods with no incidences of stock-outs.
Trade depot runs a business model that covers basic household supplies such as detergent, soap, and milk, ensuring they are accessible and affordable to everyday street vendors scattered across Lagos.
The first depot started in 2016 and now boasts a network of 40,000 small businesses across Nigeria. Unilever, Danone, and GB Foods are some of the large brands working with it. Retailers make their orders using multiple channels, i.e Android, Mobile Apps, WhatsApp, USSD shortcode messaging, toll-free numbers, etc. The app enables users to place orders and manage their inventories online.
In a statement captured on TechCrunch, Onyekachi Izukanne, a co-founder, quantities Africa’s online retail market at “1 trillion dollars.” He points out how the company will continue to “use data” to “drive efficiencies” and provide “easier stock acquisition service” to the 40,000 retailers.
The company disclosed how a new store opens up on its platform every 3 minutes and averages at an-order-placed every 4 seconds.
