Vendease, a Lagos, Nigeria, Y Combinator-backed digital platform that allows restaurants in Africa to buy supplies, access financial services and power their business operations, raised $30m in an equity and debt funding round.
The series A equity round of $20m was co-led by TLcom and Partech, and included VentureSouq, Hustle fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund and Kairos Angels, who re-invested after participating in the previous round. The $10m debt round was raised from the local finance market. Following their investments, Andreata Muforo (Partner at TLcom) and Cyril Collon (General Partner at Partech) will join Vendease’s board as new directors.
The company intends to use the funds to consolidate its growth and operations in Nigeria and Ghana, and to support its expansion across the continent.
Led by Tunde Kara, CEO, Vendease provides a digital procurement engine that makes it easier for restaurants in 8 cities across Nigeria and Ghana to buy food supplies, with guaranteed 12-hour delivery. The company is building the operating system that automates the flow of food from farm to restaurant, optimises business operations across the value chain through accurate data deployment, reduces wastage and drives profitability. They can also access working capital through the company’s Buy-Now-Pay-Later offering to maximise the growth opportunities available to them.
Over the last 12 months, Vendease has moved more than 400,000 metric tonnes of food through its platform, helping its users save more than $2,000,000 in procurement costs and more than 10,000 procurement man-hours.
FinSMEs
26/09/2022