An ex-Jumia executive established Kapu, a new social commerce firm that has raised $8 million and come out of stealth mode. In Kenya, where food prices have skyrocketed, the startup wants to transform how consumers shop for food.
Sam Chappatte, a seasoned veteran of the e-commerce sector, created Kapu. Previously, Chappatte served as an executive at Jumia, where he contributed to the development of the firm into one of Africa’s major online marketplaces. He said that since the company was started in January of this year, it has been working on a B2C e-commerce service that lets customers buy groceries at lower prices both online and in store.
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Kapu’s Investors
According to a recent release, a group of investors has just invested $8 million in Kapu. The company is currently increasing the number of regional representatives through whom customers can place orders. Soon, WhatsApp orders will be enabled as well. Kapu helps people buy food in bulk as a group by buying directly from growers and manufacturers. The company says it can save customers 30% on the cost of fresh produce and packaged goods.
“People spending like 40 to 50% of their household income on the grocery basket is a big problem for society, but it is also a huge opportunity.” The reason we started Kapu is that we think there is a more relevant model of e-commerce that can be built to target the grocery basket, which is the biggest portion of consumer spending for the vast majority of consumers. “And if we can increase efficiency through technology, we can have a huge impact on society for consumers and businesses,” Chappate said.
The seed round was co-led by Giant Ventures and Firstminute Capital, with participation from Founder Collective, Base Capital, Norrsken (co-founder of Klarna, Niklas Adalberth’s fund), and Raven One. They join the co-founders of the Indian startup Meesho and the Brazilian startup Facily, as well as many African family offices, including Twitter’s Biz Stone, Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen, Monzo’s Tom Blomfield, and serial entrepreneur Alexander Rittweger, among others.
Sam Endacott, the partner at Firstminute Capital, said in a statement: “Sam is deeply experienced in both the e-commerce and logistics categories, and we are thrilled to partner with him and the entire Kapu team to help alleviate the cost of living crisis on the continent for consumers, unlock social mobility, and drive growth for SMEs in the region.”
Kapu, which has 1,500 agent collection points spread out across Nairobi, said that the company would first focus on getting a strong foothold in that city before expanding to other places.
Customers place orders with Kapu’s agents, who are usually stationed in residential areas. The next day, the orders are delivered.
“Customers receive a notification from Kapu and also from the agents to go pick up their goods.” “Many agents also deliver to consumers’ homes,” said Chappate.
Kapu says that the physical channel (through agents) and online direct-to-consumer (using WhatsApp) models are adapted to the Kenyan market, where social commerce is showing promise but e-commerce has yet to take off.
According to the Global Web Index’s 2020 Social Media User Trends Report, Kenya has one of the highest percentages of monthly WhatsApp users in the world. This is happening as the region’s popularity in the social commerce sector increases as a result of the COVID pandemic’s shift toward online shopping.
Kapu joins a growing list of firms in Kenya that are digitizing the informal retail industry, such as Tushop, which began last year. Kapu and Tushop both offer collective purchasing of food supplies through agents and WhatsApp.
Giant Ventures Founding Partner Tommy Stadlen, who also headed the pre-seed investment, stated: “By using technology to save people money on everyday items, Kapu is helping millions of families across Africa invest in education and health.” Kapu’s team is uniquely experienced in solving this problem.
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About Kapu
They are an online shopping community that allows you to save money when you shop with friends for your daily necessities.