Sabi is a Lagos-based B2B e-commerce startup that provides digital commerce infrastructure to Africa’s informal economy, connecting manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers via an asset-light marketplace and a network of agents, call centers and supplier centers. Its platform offers tools including inventory management, sales tracking, digital invoices and analytics and earns revenue from a 5–6% take rate on marketplace transactions and financing margins on credit it originates. The startup reports growth to more than 300,000 merchants and over a $1 billion annualized GMV, up from 175,000 merchants and a $200 million annualized GMV in late 2021. Sabi processes about 15,000 monthly orders and is experiencing over 20% month-on-month growth, and it has facilitated over $100 million on behalf of local microfinance banks and fintech lenders. Executives emphasize focusing on fundamentals, unit economics and profitability rather than aggressive incentive-led growth, and the company is launching new products to serve agents and last-mile merchants. It operates in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa and plans to expand into Tanzania and Malawi (via acquisition), the DRC and Francophone West Africa. Sabi offers an asset-light B2B retail platform for informal trade, providing online and offline channels—agents, call centres, merchant partners, supplier centres—and a mobile app with inventory, sales, tracking, digital invoices and analytics. The company provides visibility across the value chain without owning vehicles, warehouses or goods, and complements rather than disintermediates existing distributors and middlemen. Sabi monetizes via transaction fees on marketplace sales and earns margins from providing financing to merchants; it plans a subscription reseller model for agents in Q1 2022 and aims to offer manufacturers data-backed visibility. The platform is category-agnostic and supports FMCG and other sectors; it hosts more than 175,000 merchants and over 10,000 agents, with a roughly $200 million annualized GMV run rate and about $12 million monthly GMV. Sabi has grown an average of 40% month-on-month in Nigeria and was spun out of Rensource in October 2020, led by founder and CEO Anu Adasolum and co-founder/director Ademola Adesina. The company has opened operations in Kenya and made hires in South Africa with plans to go live there early next year, and expects a Series A may close to fund that expansion.

Total raised

$44M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

May 2023