Chpter, a Kenyan e-commerce startup, has raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed round. The company will use the new funding to improve its technology and expand into Egypt, Ghana, Morrocco and Nigeria.
Pani, an Africa-focused investment firm co-founded by Cellulant’s former CEO, Ken Njoroge, led the funding round. Other participants include Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, and ViKtoria Ventures, and angel investors, including Nala founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes and Workpay co-founders Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo.
Founded in 2022 by Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin and Mark Kiarie, Chpter helps businesses convert social media from a marketing channel to a sales platform with chat, order, and payment tools. The company charges a monthly subscription and earns a transaction fee for payments processed on its platform. Some of its clients include insurer Britam, shoe store Kicks Kenya, and e-commerce platform Phoneplace. The company operates in Kenya and South Africa.
Tesh Mbaabu, Chpter’s co-founder and CEO said: “We are investing in our tech stack to offer an end-to-end product, connecting the APIs from social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram with popular e-commerce and customer relationship management systems like Shopify and Woocommerce”.
“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 & 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 capitalize on this massive opportunity.” Added Ben Finlay, General Partner at Plesion Capital.
