Nigerian-based gifting platform, Showlove, has raised US$300,000 in its pre-seed funding round. The fundraise comes as the startup goes live with the first version of its product.
The fund was raised from venture capital firms, Fedha Capital, with further participations from angel investors
Showlove, which was founded in 2020 by Chikodi Ukaiwe, Joshua Biyere and Seye Bandele, is in the business of simplifying the process of requesting, giving and receiving gifts, and cash.
According to a report by Disrupt Africa, Showlove is working on creating a fun community for people to share what they want, either with a closed circle of people or the general public.
The startup also connects thousands of vendors, SMEs and hypermarkets via APIs, as well as helping African businesses promote their services and deals.
Speaking on the operation of the startup, Chikodi Ukaiwe, CEO of Showlove, said:
“In our personal lives we have experienced difficulty knowing exactly what people want when we want to share gifts with them randomly or on their special occasions. There is no real way to know exactly what a person wants without having to ask them directly, which ruins the whole experience. Before now people were paying for gifts using debit cards, USSD, and bank transfers. Now we are introducing a wallet that simplifies that process, you can pay for anything or accept payments with your wallet. And if buying gifts isn’t your cup of tea, you can send cash to your friends at zero cost.”
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The gifting platform began operations in December 2020 with the launch of its public beta. The initial design allow users to purchase electronic gift vouchers for their loved ones from various Nigerian businesses.
With the full version of the product, users can now buy gifts, share Wishlists, and send or receive cash. Showlove’s platform is backed by a digital wallet.
