TradeDepot, a Nigerian B2B eCommerce startup, has raised a $110 million Series B in an equity and debt funding round to extend its Buy-Now-Pay-Later services to 5 million retailers and drive further expansion of its merchant platform across the continent.
The equity round was led by International Finance Corporation (IFC) with participation from Novastar, Sahel Capital, CDC Group, Endeavor Catalyst, and existing investors, Partech and MSA Capital. Meanwhile, the debt funding was led by Arcadia Funds. The investment is coming eighteen months after TradeDepot raised $10 million.
TradeDepot, established in 2016, uses a digital platform to connect producers with an informal network of 40,000 micro retailers. The startup is active in 12 cities in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa (Accra, Johannesburg and ten cities in Nigeria). Founders of TradeDepot include Onyekachi Izukanne, Michael Ukpong and Ruke Awaritefe. It currently has about 60,000 micro retailers in its network.
The equity funding will be used to strengthen its activities in these three countries and increase its footprint across Nigeria, trying to capture more of the 5 million SMEs. The debt financing will support the delivery of the BNPL service to these retailers.
Onyekachi Izukanne, CEO and co-founder of TradeDepot, said, “We remain super focused on making digital commerce and financing both accessible and affordable to neighbourhood retailers across key cities in Africa. We are delighted to be joined by an elite group of new investors and have IFC’s Wale Ayeni and Brian Odhiambo of Novastar joining our Board of Directors, to support us on this journey to drive growth and prosperity across the continent.”
Makhtar Diop, IFC’s Managing Director said, “The informal sector is a large and critical part of Africa’s economy, accounting for around 80 percent of jobs in the region. We are excited to work with TradeDepot to leverage technology to help small businesses across the continent, particularly the many retailers led by women, access the resources they need to grow and scale.”
