JABU, the last-mile distribution e-commerce startup, has raised a $15 million Series A led by Tiger Global. The startup recently raised a $3.2 million seed financing round to expand into more countries in Southern Africa as well as grow its team.
Other investors in this growth round include Box Group, Knollwood and D Global Ventures. Some backers from its seed round: Afore Capital, Oldslip and FJ Labs also contributed to the round.
Founded in 2020 by David Akinin, JABU is powering the way in which shop-owners order, source, and stock their products, and executing the last mile of distribution for FMCG brands. The startup operated in stealth mode for much of last year and became the first Namibian startup to be accepted into the Y Combinator Accelerator for the summer 2021 batch.
With JABU, merchants can order, stock and pay for their products via Jwallet and expect same-day delivery, the YC-backed company said. In January, the company had over 6,000 merchants using its platform across Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. CEO David Akinin said that number has increased by 50%.
The company also provides data-driven services such as sales metrics and agent performances to FMCGs brands and banks via dashboards.
The Series A round will see JABU deepen its presence in Southern Africa and expand to new markets like Botswana and Eswatini later this year.
Commenting, CEO Akinin said: “Many businesses like ours are taking money out of the market. We’re trying to build a business that brings products into the market and continues in a journey that has a multiplier effect of moving that money 20 times around that market. And I think that’s the point of building the JABU wallet. There will be shared services; other products will stem from this and so will the ability to pay for services and products in those markets.”
