Sky.Garden raised US$1.2 million in seed funding in 2018, and it has now secured US$4 million in a Series A round led by SANAD Fund for MSME, Aavishkaar, UNCOVERED FUND, and KSK Angel Fund, the latter of which was created by former AC Milan footballer Keisuke Honda.
Sky.Garden, which was launched in May 2017, is a mobile commerce software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed exclusively for African enterprises.
Its user-friendly online marketplace enables individuals, SMEs, and established organizations to offer their wares.
“The major objective of Sky.Garden is to deliver best-in-class technology to African vendors so they may access and benefit from online commerce. Sky.Garden will be able to have an impact at a large scale thanks to this round of funding. Martin Majlund, CEO of Sky.Garden, said, “I’m looking forward to an exciting new chapter with these wonderful partners pioneering e-commerce with the African entrepreneur in mind.”
Dr Daniela Beckmann, SANAD’s board chairperson, stated that SANAD has long advocated for the use of technology to promote financial inclusion and business success. “The epidemic has highlighted the necessity of digital solutions in maintaining entrepreneurs’ flexibility and long-term viability. We are thrilled to be partnering with Sky.Garden, a forward-thinking startup that is bringing the benefits of e-commerce to the small companies that power the economy and are at the heart of SANAD’s mission. We will also facilitate technology transfer for the benefit of entrepreneurs in the region by investing in Sky.Garden,” Beckmann stated.
COVID-19 has expedited the need for Africa’s massive but extremely fragmented and unorganized retail business to embrace the digital economy, according to Ashish Patel, partner at Aavishkaar Capital. “Sky.Garden is one of the premier e-commerce enabling platforms on the continent, delivering these firms transformative tools to fully capitalise on the distinctively African e-commerce opportunity,” Patel said.
The funds will be utilized to help the startup grow faster.
Thousands of merchants in Kenya have created webshops as a result of Sky.introduction, Garden’s which allows a shopkeeper on one side of Kenya to sell things to a client on the other without requiring any technical knowledge.
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