Nigerian logistics startup Kwik completes $2m Series A funding round to facilitate expansion
Kwik, a French-Nigerian business-to-business startup that provides Software as a Service (SaaS) logistics services to African social vendors and e-commerce platforms, has raised $2 million in its Series A round.
With the new funding, the company will be able to focus more on developing digital services for the three core pillars of last-mile delivery, e-commerce and fulfillment, and financial services, with the goal of digitizing informal African trade from logistics to financial services.
The round was led by XBTO Ventures, a digital asset and fintech investor, and included investments from several new and existing owners, including Humla Ventures, Nabuboto, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, and Pulse Africa founder Leonard Stiegeler.
Kwik, a digital platform that connects delivery partners and corporate customers in large African cities while also providing digital solutions for e-commerce payment and fulfillment, was launched in July 2019 after the startup raised initial funding, and it has seen rapid adoption.
It received additional seed funding in 2020 and closed a pre-Series A deal with institutional and high-net-worth investors for US$1.7 million in March of last year to fund its next phase of growth. Kwik continued to expand rapidly throughout the rest of the year, both in terms of customer base and services, with GMV and revenue increasing by 400% by 2021.
The startup is now concentrating on developing digital services for the three key pillars of last-mile delivery: e-commerce and fulfillment, as well as financial services.
“Our goal is for Kwik to become the go-to app for African social vendors and traditional merchants looking to go digital.” “Integrating delivery, payment, and e-commerce tools seamlessly in one simple mobile app is a compelling proposition,” said Romain Poirot-Lellig, founder and CEO of Kwik. “With this funding round, we will be able to expand across all three key verticals and in select geographic areas.”
