Vendease, a Nigerian online marketplace, has raised $30 million in its series A funding round.
The YC-backed food procurement startup said the funding round features a $20 million equity round, as well as $10 million debt financing.
The equity round was co-led by two of the biggest African-focused funds – TLcom and Partech. Further participations came from investment firms like VentureSouq, Hustle fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund, and Kairos Angels.
On the other hand, the $10 million debt financing was raised from a number of local investment firms.
With the funds, Vendease said it will further push for the growth of its operations in the eight cities it covers in Nigeria and Ghana, and also push for an expansion into the wider African space. The startup will also be building new products, and provide more value for its customers.
“We’re building technology to efficiently move food from the point of production to the point of consumption. Everything we build at Vendease – financing, logistics, warehousing, inventory management – is tailored towards ensuring that food flows efficiently from that point of production to the point of consumption,” CEO and co-founder, Tunde Kara, said.
Vendease was founded in 2020 by Tunde Kara, Olumide Fayankin, Gatumi Aliyu and Wale Oyepeju. The startup streamline the food supply chain by eliminating the effects of middlemen in the purchase and supply line. Vendease serves as a marketplace for restaurants and those in food business. It allows African restaurants and food business to buy food supplies directly from farmers, and also grants them access to financial services.
The startup said it has helped its customers save up to $500,000 by providing them assured delivery within 12 hours, removing the need for its customers to stock supplies that might end up being wasted.
“Since businesses don’t have access to accurate data, they usually buy what they don’t need. We help them to solve that problem in two ways. One, because businesses know they can get anything on our platform in 12 hours, they don’t need to stock some of the things they would’ve stored before. Two, they can also track what they bought and know how much is left before they need to buy again,” Kara said.
Speaking on newly completely funding round, Kara said:
“Our mission is to enable the efficient flow of food across the continent, from point of production to point of consumption. It is more than just placing orders for supplies, we want to transform how the entire sector works and remove the bottlenecks that stunt the growth of restaurants and food businesses. With greater efficiency in the supply chain, we believe we can unlock more growth opportunities across board, which is why we are excited to have raised this round, led by two of Africa’s biggest VCs, who understand what it takes to power such an ambitious mission.”
Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLcom, also commented on the partnership with Vendease:
“Restaurants and food businesses play a vital role in communities across the continent and Vendease is on a mission to bring affordability, convenience, and reliability to these businesses and builds a platform that allows the wider food sector to optimise their operations. We look forward to working alongside the team as they pursue the next phase of growth and unlock significant value in Africa’s fragmented food supply chain.”
Following the funding, TLcom’s Muforo, and Cyril Collon, a general partner at Partech, will join Vendease’s board as new directors.