• MarketForce

  Participated · Debt Financing · Feb 2022

  MarketForce operates RejaReja, a merchant super app that lets informal traders source hundreds of FMCG SKUs directly from manufacturers and distributors, place and pay for orders digitally, accept utility payments, and access loans. The company is rolling out merchant inventory financing (an overdraft-like BNPL for merchants) after a successful pilot that tripled order stock value, and plans to introduce additional fintech services like BNPL, insurance, savings, and investment. RejaReja is asset-light, relying on partner-owned logistics and aims to expand across more East and West African markets. Operational traction includes more than 87,000 orders to date at an average basket of $151, 40% month-on-month growth, and an expected run-rate above $60M in annualized transaction volume last year. MarketForce says it will scale headcount and merchant base rapidly — targeting 250,000 merchants in the coming months (up from 5,000 a year earlier) and previously projecting 1 million merchants by year-end. The company also uses merchant transaction history to build credit profiles and partners with lenders like Pezesha to extend loans. MarketForce operates a retail distribution SaaS and RejaReja, a B2B e-commerce marketplace that lets informal merchants buy FMCGs and digital financial services with next-day delivery for hundreds of SKUs. RejaReja, launched in December 2020, is an asset-light marketplace that leverages partners (distributors, manufacturers, 3PLs) rather than owning warehouses or trucks. The company integrated acquired platform Digiduka to provide a wallet and enable merchants to collect mobile money and bank payments via app, WhatsApp bots, or USSD. MarketForce extends working capital to kiosks based on ordering habits and uses its network to distribute both FMCGs and financial services. The startup has a presence in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania; over 15,000 retail customers use RejaReja to process thousands of orders daily. Its legacy SaaS product has over 10,000 monthly active users, and users have completed 300,000 transactions worth more than $500 million since 2018. With recent traction on the e-commerce side, the company plans to scale RejaReja across more East African towns and launch in Nigeria.

• Termii

  Participated · Seed · Mar 2021

  Termii is a YC-backed API-based communications platform that enables businesses—particularly fintechs—to engage customers via SMS, voice messaging, mobile tokens, alerts and two-way support. Founded in 2017, the company serves a growing base of enterprise customers through both APIs and a no-code campaign dashboard. Termii reports that over 10,000 businesses now rely on its platform monthly, up from 500+ fintech customers in 2021, and message transactions climbed from one million to 400 million. Annual recurring revenue reportedly increased 30x over that period. The company recently launched TermiiGo, a B2B2C mobile app offering time-based OTPs, direct-to-mobile notifications, local/international calling and global eSIM activation under an MVNO-like model. Termii plans to expand product offerings (calls, OTPs, eSIM) and enter Francophone African markets beginning with Ivory Coast, with planned physical launches in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and the U.S. Termii offers an API-based communications platform-as-a-service that enables businesses to send multichannel messaging (WhatsApp, voice, SMS) and perform customer verification and authentication. Founded by Gbolade Emmanuel and Ayomide Awe and launched in 2017, Termii targets B2B2C customers and has attracted more than 500 fintech startups and over 1,000 businesses and developers to its platform. Instead of a subscription model, Termii uses a virtual wallet tied to a bank account and charges per message and per successful verification, accepting mobile money, bank transfers and cards. The company saw rapid traction after joining Y Combinator in early 2020, with messaging transactions up 1,000% that year and ARR rising 400%. Revenue is reported to be growing about 60% month-on-month and 68% of messaging volume is tied to online financial transactions; Nigeria accounts for 76% of transactions while Algeria represents about 15%. Termii plans to use the new seed capital to expand across Africa, including a physical presence in Algeria, and to roll out additional messaging offerings. Termii was founded in 2014 by Gbolade Emmanuel (CEO) and Ayomide Awe (CTO) and rebranded in 2017. The company offers a Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) focused on delivering dependable communication channels for African businesses. Termii is now a Delaware company with operations in Silicon Valley while maintaining a primary market focus in Africa, particularly Nigeria. The founders spent three months in the Bay Area as part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2020 batch, with Demo Day delivered over video due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of YC, Termii received a $150,000 investment in exchange for 7% equity. The company has previously received funding from Future Hub (backed by Transsion) and Microtraction and intends to continue operating across multiple locations with a focus on Nigeria. Termii is a Nigerian communication and collaboration platform offering an API-based communication infrastructure that drives repeated interactions between customers and brands through multi-channel real-time messaging and a per-billing wallet system. The product focuses on customer retention by segmenting users and delivering personalized marketing messages and includes customer authentication and verification APIs. The company was started in 2014 as a team-networking platform by co-founders Gbolade Emmanuel and Ayomide Awe, rebranded and officially launched in October 2017. Termii is headquartered in Lagos and serves customers in Nigeria, Morocco, Ghana, and Benin Republic. The startup has grown from about 100 businesses at launch to roughly 1,000 clients, including hundreds of top brands such as Bankly and Fundall. It intends to use the $30,000 seed from Future Hub to optimise the platform across Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya and upgrade authentication and verification APIs; until now it has been sustained by founders' investments. Termii is a corporate networking and collaboration platform that integrates social and business tools to help businesses improve office collaboration and productivity. Its core product includes co-working remote workspaces, real-time Team Note document editing, staff grouping, task assigner, and a presentation board supporting video and slides. The platform offers an enterprise version with tailored features, and it has a community of more than 1,000 investors who can access venture stories and progress updates. Termii recently partnered with Newswire to connect ventures to over 100,000 journalists and more than 50 media outlets. The company has secured about $10,000 in funding (excluding investor-provided office space), is generating revenue from paying users, and has revised pricing to attract younger startups. CEO Gbolade Emmanuel says the company is developing beta services to improve revenue streams and plans continental expansion to markets including Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa.

No current team members are available.