Vendease, a Y Combinator-backed digital platform that enables restaurants in Africa to make supply purchases, access banking services, and run their businesses, has raised $30 million in an equity and debt investment round to consolidate its growth and operations in Nigeria and to assist its expansion throughout the continent.
When it comes to investing in Africa, TLcom and Partech are two of the largest names in the industry, so it’s not surprising that they lead the $20 million capital round together.
VentureSouq, Hustle Fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund, and Kairos Angels, who had previously invested, also took part in the equity round.
The $10 million debt round was funded through the local finance market.
Restaurants in cities all around Nigeria and Ghana may now purchase food supplies at prices that are significantly lower than those found on the open market, with a 12-hour delivery guarantee, thanks to Vendease’s digital procurement engine.
The business is developing an operating system that streamlines business operations across the value chain, automates the movement of food from farms to restaurants, minimizes waste, and increases profitability.
“Our objective is to enable the efficient flow of food across the continent, from point of production to point of consumption,” stated Tunde Kara, CEO, and co-founder of Vendease. We want to change how the entire industry operates and get rid of the bottlenecks that limit the expansion of restaurants and food enterprises, so it’s more than just making supply orders. We believe that by improving the efficiency of the supply chain, we can create more opportunities for growth across the board, which is why we are thrilled to have raised this round, which was co-led by two of Africa’s largest VCs and who are aware of the requirements needed to support such an ambitious goal.
With the additional funding, more restaurants and food businesses in Africa will be able to take advantage of existing services, and new services and solutions that will spur development along the entire food value chain will also be created.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
Remedial Health, a Nigerian healthtech startup, receives $4.4 million in seed funding
Kippa, a fintech startup in Nigeria, raises $8.4 million in a funding round
