Chpter, the AI-powered social commerce platform, has secured $1.2 million of Pre-Seed funding. This funding round attracted investors who are familiar with the Kenyan startup ecosystem. It was led by Ken Njoroge of PANI, who is the Cofounder & Former CEO of Cellulant. The funding round was supported by Plesion Capital, Techstars, and other investors, including angel investors Benjamin Fernandes, NALA’s founder, and the cofounders of Workpay.
The startup plans to invest in product development, geographic expansion, and sales and marketing to capitalize on the increasing popularity of conversational commerce. Over the next few months, they plan to avail the service in at least 5 more markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Morocco. It was launched in Kenya in 2022 by Mesongo Sibuti (CTO), Kuria Kevin (CPO), Mark Kiarie (COO) and Tesh Mbaabu (CEO).
“We are thrilled to pioneer the social commerce revolution, starting in Africa, as more and more consumers turn to social channels such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to communicate and purchase from the brands they love.” says Tesh Mbaabu, Co-Founder and CEO at Chpter.
Mbabu, who is a serial founder, highlighted that WhatsApp, which has over 2 billion active users, is the key platform of focus. His cofounder, Mark Kiarie, backed him on this saying,
“A WhatsApp-led e-commerce experience makes it more inclusive and accessible to the underserved mass market, due to its low data and digital literacy requirements as well as the over 95% usage rate in many emerging markets”
Chpter aims to leverage the power of social media platforms where your customers already spend their time. This increases the chance of engagement and ultimately, sales. The company is now an approved Meta Partner with access to advanced features on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. With AI, customers can create chatbots and AI-powered sales/customer service agent.
