Nigerian TradeDepot Raises $3 Million External Funding from Partech Ventures African Fund

The Nigerian innovative SaaS web platform TradeDepot has raised $3 million in funding from Partech Ventures’ African Fund to foster the distribution of fast moving consumer goods (FCMG) in the country and across Africa.

TradeDepot Raises $3M in Series A Funding https://t.co/wHQ0NJK9Ra pic.twitter.com/XbMP9jrmfW

— FoundersGyan (@FoundersGyan) April 26, 2018

Founded in 2016 by Michael Ukpong, Onyekachi Izukanne, Ruke Awaritefe, TradeDepot operates using a “360-degree solution”, which helps it coordinate all participants in the trade value chain; manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

With the TradeDepot platform, small retailers have access to prices and discounts available from every major brand, and they can directly order for their products. Manufacturers have full control over the distribution and delivery of their goods. TradeDepot happens to be the first recipient of Partech’s  €100 million Africa fund launched in January this year to help digital champions that has Pan African Ambitions.

Speaking on the funding, Onyekachi Izukame, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of TradeDepot, says that the funding is ‘critical’ for the company.

This first external funding round was critical for us: we have proven that there is a strong demand for such a distribution platform among consumer goods companies and retailers in emerging markets, and we now wish to use these funds to support our growth strategy.

TradeDepot raises $3 million Series A from Partech partners, others https://t.co/31BFis7S53 pic.twitter.com/Y5V5MMc5M4

— Olakunle Olayinka (@cfkunle) April 27, 2018

Why the Need for Distribution Platforms?

With several consumer goods companies and millions of retailers in emerging markets such as Nigeria, there is a needs for direct-to-store and distribution platforms such as TradeDepot. But surprisingly, startups have not effectively addressed this issue as there has been no growth in the area of consumer goods distribution.

TradeDepot hopes to achieve so much with the funding.

In Nigeria alone, this $340-billion market loses more than $4-billion every year due to a lack of visibility and the resulting waste in logistics, making retailers in African countries subject to some of the highest product distribution costs in the world. Our goal is to enable every convenience store in Africa to consistently receive their supplies at the best possible prices. — Onyekachi Izukame.

Currently, the platform works with six consumer goods companies in Nigeria including Promasidor, Coca Cola and Population Sciences International.

About Partech Ventures

Founded in 1982 by Vincent Worms, Partech is a venture capital firm specializing in information and communication technologies, operating in Europe, Paris and Berlin, as well as in the US, in San Francisco. Partech Ventures launched its Africa Fund in January , which has secured over EUR57 million (US$70 million) toward its target size of EUR100 million (US$122 million).