Ecommerce firm Copia has been making leaps in the Kenyan market.
The company was among the first organizations of its kind that started offering services to customers while adhering to the COVID-19 directives back in April 2020.
The development paid off, because agents gained from running operations during the pandemic, and could wait for deliveries instead of sourcing goods for themselves.
Now, the company wants to do more after it raised $50 million in a Series C drive that was completed just the other day.
Among the leading fundraisers in the equity round include Zebu Investment Partners, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Koa Labs, alongside existing partners including Lightrock, DEG, and Perivoli Innovations.
Some of its investors are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and MasterCard.
To note, the round succeeds a Series B drive that amassed USD 26 million.
Overall, Copia has effectively raised USD 103 million.
The funds will help the firm grow even further.
It operates primarily in Kenya, but it has since expanded its services to Uganda.
Copia’s ambitions are huge and include it taking its reach to West Africa to the likes of Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.
Copia is also developing plans to launch in the Southern Africa region.
However, the funds go hand in hand with the speeds at which Copia will grow in two markets. If it beats all odds and grows bigger than it already is, then Copia will surely launch in the aforementioned markets sooner than we expect.
As a reminder, Copia’s e-commerce model can serve customers who do not have access to the internet. This is done via a USSD code.
Still, orders can still be made online.
It has onboarded more than 30K agents, including shopkeepers. It has recorded more than 1.2 million unique customers so far. Most of these customers are in rural areas.
The platform also empowers women because 77 percent of its agents are females.
Started in 2013 by Tracey Turner and Jonathan Lewis, Copia has managed to grow in a market that is very competitive. Perhaps, its price-conscious model has played an essential role in attracting agents and customers.
