Kenya: Social commerce platform Chpter raises $1.2m
Kenya: Social commerce platform Chpter raises $1.2m
Chpter enables businesses to sell more on social platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram.
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Chpter, an AI-powered conversational commerce platform that enables businesses to sell more on social platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, has secured $1.2 million in pre-seed funding.
The round was led by Ken Njoroge of Pani, co-founder and former CEO of Cellulant, with participation from Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, Viktoria Ventures, and angel investors, including NALA founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes, as well as Workpay co-founders Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo.
Chpter, which was launched in Kenya in 2022, will use the capital in three key areas: (i) Accelerate product development of its conversational commerce offering, (ii) Expand its product availability across more countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and (iii) Enhance its sales and marketing efforts on the back of growing demand from leading brands.
Today, a lot of buying and selling is done over social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and soon TikTok. In emerging markets, this brand of e-commerce (called social or conversational commerce) has grown over the years, and accounts for the majority of e-commerce activity on the continent, particularly because these channels don’t require much digital expertise and are easily accessible.
Businesses struggle to handle inbound requests from customers resulting in a significant percentage of sales revenue slipping through the cracks. Simply put, social networks, as they exist today, aren’t built to support end-to-end online shopping experiences, leading to e-commerce businesses losing up to 40% of their revenue to abandoned carts. Besides optimising conversion, these businesses also struggle with order management and fulfillment, creating inconsistent customer experiences and low trust.
To address these challenges, Mesongo Sibuti (CTO), Kuria Kevin (CPO), Mark Kiarie (COO) and Tesh Mbaabu (CEO) partnered to build Chpter.
“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. “Specifically, WhatsApp’s role in business communication cannot be overstated. With more than two billion active users, it offers an unparalleled platform for businesses to offer support, engage in sales conversations, and maintain customer relationships.”
“At Pani we’re always on the look out for founder teams with incredible grit – they embody the relentless passion and fight needed to build in Africa. When we find such founders, we walk with them and invest in them. For this reason, we’re glad to be part of the Chpter story and to support the growth of a product with the potential to transform how we buy and sell across the continent,” says Ken Njoroge, managing partner at Pani.
“We invested in Chpter because of their highly innovative technology and best-in-class leadership team. Their digital solutions solve complex problems specific to African commerce, highlighting their potential for pan-African success, and their leadership team has the capability and experience to capitalise on this massive opportunity,” added Ben Finlay, general partner at Plesion Capital.
Chpter is already live in Kenya and South Africa.
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