Powered by People, a Kenyan wholesale e-commerce platform, has secured $5 million in seed funding led by Susa Ventures and Golden Ventures with participation from a number of investors including Flexport Ventures, J Ventures, and the founders of DraftKings, Fabric.
The latest funding will be used to increase its transaction volumes by growing the number of small brands using its B2B online marketplace to reach international buyers.
Founded in 2019 by Ella Peinovich, Hedvig Alexander and Alison Phillips, Powered by People is a mobile-first, distributed manufacturing system offering online tools, financing solutions, and a B2B marketplace for small and mid-sized enterprises in the creative manufacturing and handmade sector. Powered by People links small brands to retailers keen on supply-chain transparency, sustainability and small-batch production – companies that are also pushed by the need for diversity and have pledged to support small traders as they also keep up with the rise of conscious customers.
The startup works with over 200 brands and over 45,000 artisans from 47 countries, who sell to retailers like West Elm and The Citizenry, across major markets including in North America and Asia. The business recorded an annualized run rate of $15 million in total gross merchandise value by mid-March, and they expect to grow this to $25 million before the year ends. Orders on the platform average $1,200.
Commenting on the equity investment, Powered by People co-founder and CEO Ella Peinovich said, “we are going to continue building up our technology…we have new vendor tools we are launching this quarter that will help streamline and automate things to help these businesses take on bigger orders and grow. We are also investing in building our senior leadership.”
