Vendease, an online marketplace that connects restaurants and other food businesses with manufacturers and farms directly, has secured $3.2 million in a seed round.
Global Founders Capital and a stellar group of VCs/Angels spearheaded the investment round (including Y Combinator, Hustle Fund, Liquid 2 Ventures, Hack VC, Soma Cap, Tayo Oviosu, and John Obaro).
Tunde Kara, Wale Oyepeju, Gatumi Aliyu, and Olumide Fayankin started the company in January 2020.
Starting with Nigeria, the organization aims to address the issues and inefficiencies in Africa’s severely fragmented food sector.
Vendease is a plug-and-play technology that powers transactions between farmers and food businesses by ensuring 24-hour delivery, expense tracking, digital inventory management, and supply chain finance.
Tunde Kara, CEO, and co-founder of Vendease, claims that the company has saved 5,000 person-hours and moved 100,000 metric tons of food since its beginning.
Vendease is now active in three Nigerian cities: Lagos, Abuja, and Ibadan, and works with some of the country’s most well-known food companies, including Hard Rock, Krispy Kreme, and Shiro.
Vendease plans to use the funds to expand throughout Africa. Vendease will also be able to continue to develop its technological stack, as well as acquire relationships with payment platforms and banks to expand its financial solutions, including buy now, pay later.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
ILLA, a Cairo-based FMCG logistics firm, has completed a $2 million funding round
Sendbox, a Nigerian e-commerce fulfillment startup, has raised $1.8 million in a seed round
Asante, an Africa-focused fintech company, has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding
