Kenyan Influencer Marketplace, Wowzi Raises $3.2m to Expand Across Africa
Kenyan influencer marketplace, Wowzi, has announced that it has raised a total of $3.2m in a seed funding round. The startup raised a $2m seed round led by 4DX Ventures.
To.org, Golden Palm Investments, LoftyInc Capital, Afropreneur Angels, Future Africa, Andela co-founder Christina Sass and alumni Jessica Chervin, Justin Ziegler, and Johnny Falla also participated in the round participated as well.
The $2 million is in addition to the previously unannounced $1.2 million pre-seed round, bringing the total amount raised to date to $3.2 million.
Wowzi was founded in 2019 by Mogeni, Hassan Bashir, and Mike Otieno. The online marketplace platform democratizes influence, connecting everyday social media users with big brands, enabling nano and micro creators to earn money by spreading brand messages via social media.
Wowzi co-founder and CEO Brian Mogeni speaking said: “Mobile use has become a key driver of commerce in African markets, and it’s where young people already spend their time. Young people only require lightweight remote training to master the key principles of sharing brand messages, so suddenly anyone with a phone can influence their peers through social media.
“Now that Wowzi has created the technology platform to efficiently distribute and manage job offers to thousands of youth at a time, brands have an opportunity to engage directly with youth and offer meaningful gig work. Wowzi offers a new layer of advertising for brands that can help target niche communities.
“This new layer of advertising plays into emerging trends of decentralized social networks, creating creators who think of themselves as media entrepreneurs. Furthermore, we are building the world’s best technology that can scale globally to meet the evolving needs of users and brands.”
Wowzi’s self-serve online platform allows brands of any size or industry to create and manage massive, distributed messaging campaigns, the startup plans to use the new funding to scale partnerships with local, regional, and multinational FMCG companies, Telcos, Banks, Creative Agencies, and Development Institutions to create dignified digital economy jobs for African youth.