Kenyan B2B eCommerce Startup, MarketForce, raises $2m pre-Series A Funding

Kenya’s eCommerce startup MarketForce has announced it raised $2m to focus on its business-to-business (B2B) retail marketplace. P1 Ventures, Y Combinator, Launch Africa, V8 Capital, Future Africa, GreenHouse Capital, Rebel Fund, Remapped Ventures, and other unnamed investors all participated in the round.

MarketForce is an end-to-end retail distribution platform founded in 2018 by the duo of Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), respectively with the aim of eliminating fragmented distribution networks and stores they observed in small retail establishments. The startup has since established itself as a leading eCommerce platform in Kenya, employing fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution networks to distribute digital financial services and FMCG goods.

Note that MarketForce had earlier acquired Digiduka- another Kenyan eCommerce startup- to accelerate its services across Africa in June 2021.

Marketforce also announced a partnership with Pezesha in June 2021 to offer more affordable inventory and effective wholesale distribution financing to its users.

Digiduka makes it easy for retailers of digital services, the startup intends to launch it service in Nigeria and then expand its product to more East African towns throughout.