Nigerian food procurement startup, Vendease, today announced that it has raised $30 million in an equity and debt funding round. The Series A equity round of $20 million was co-led by TLcom and Partech, in a rare joint investment by two of the biggest Africa-focused funds. The equity round also included VentureSouq, Hustle fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund, and Kairos Angels, who returned after participating in the previous round.
The $10 million debt round was raised from the local finance market.
The company says the investment will be used to consolidate its growth and operations in Nigeria and Ghana and to support its expansion across the continent. It will also be used for the development of new solutions and services to drive growth across the food value chain.
What they are saying
Commenting on the funding, Tunde Kara, CEO and co-founder of Vendease, said: “Our mission is to enable the efficient flow of food across the continent, from point of production to point of consumption. It is more than just placing orders for supplies, we want to transform how the entire sector works and remove the bottlenecks that stunt the growth of restaurants and food businesses. With greater efficiency in the supply chain, we believe we can unlock more growth opportunities across board, which is why we are excited to have raised this round, led by two of Africa’s biggest VCs, who understand what it takes to power such an ambitious mission”.
Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLcom, said: “Restaurants and food businesses play a vital role in communities across the continent and Vendease is on a mission to bring affordability, convenience, and reliability to these businesses and builds a platform that allows the wider food sector to optimise their operations. We look forward to working alongside the team as they pursue the next phase of growth and unlock significant value in Africa’s fragmented food supply chain.”
Also commenting on the funding, General Partner at Partech, Cyril Collon said: “Vendease is delivering vital solutions that impact critical issues around the food system in Africa. We are thrilled to be working with them to take these solutions to more restaurants and food businesses across the continent. We see huge scope for growth in Nigeria and beyond and we are very optimistic about what can be achieved”.
What you should know
- Vendease was founded in 2020 by Tunde Kara, Olumide Fayankin, Gatumi Aliyu and Wale Oyepeju in Nigeria.
- Kara and Fayankin grew up watching their parents, a farmer and a restaurant owner, struggle with inefficiencies in Nigeria’s food system.
- They realised that the layer of middlemen in the food system and the negotiations between buyers and sellers resulted in late payments, and unreliable deliveries and good food got wasted.
- They founded Vendease to streamline the food supply chain by cutting most of the middlemen out of the equation. The company serves as a marketplace that connects restaurants and food businesses directly to farmers and manufacturers. It is also a logistics service, an inventory and business management partner, and a lender.
