Daba Finance, a business that simplifies investment in Africa’s top private and public enterprises, participated in Lengo’s pre-seed fundraising round. Institutional and retail investors could use Daba’s innovative investment platform.
Daba was founded in 2021 to democratize investing in Africa by providing an all-in-one platform for investors of all levels to access curated investment strategies and develop wealth by investing in African private and public capital markets.
Read also: South African Telehealth Startup, Contro, Raises $5.6 Million In Pre-seed Funding
What is Lengo?
Lengo is an AI platform created in 2021 and provides an extensive database and insights on consumer goods to businesses in Africa that work in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector.
Lengo uses field agents called Lengo Eagles and AI to deliver real-time product sales performance data to retailers and FMCG companies from the vast network of corner shops that account for 90% of purchases across the continent.
The startup has mapped almost 30,000 shops and gives information on over 2,000 items. Over 25 CPG companies utilize their monthly platform to “stop guessing Africa” and get ahead on the continent.
Why we supported Lengo
Africa is anticipated to have 40% of the world’s population by the end of the 21st century, and FMCG will be its first globally relevant industry.
As demand for packaged meals, drinks, personal care, and home goods rises, multinational and local enterprises thrive. Infrastructure issues, including a lack of client preferences, industry trends, and supply chain data, require assistance.
Lengo solves the second problem using AI and is poised to profit from an industry that accounted for two-thirds of Africa’s $1.4 trillion retail sales in 2016 and is predicted to increase as middle-class earnings rise and more people move to cities.
Max Smith (CEO), with experience in sales and market research across Africa; Roger Xavier Macia (CCO), former CCO at Jumia in Senegal. And Ismaila Seck (CTO), a Senegalese AI veteran with a PhD in machine and deep learning, is the founding team.
“Daba is proud to partner with Lengo on further scaling its robust solution that meets the critical needs of the fast-growing consumer goods market,” said Boum III Jr., Daba co-founder and CEO. “We are even more determined to help more investors support such companies and viable startups in overcoming capital challenges.”
Additional investors
Ventures Platform and Acasia led the pre-seed round, which included P1 Ventures, Launch Africa, Voltron Capital, Super Capital, and Atlantis Ventures.
What next?
Lengo plans to use the new funds to build the AI part of its product to connect with many stores, make the platform better for CPGs by adding real-time analytics and user experience, and expand its reach to more African cities.
To reach its goal, the company wants to hire more people, especially AI/software engineers and product managers, ready to work in Africa.