Klasha, a cross-border technology company based in San Francisco and Lagos, has announced the raising of $2.4 million in seed funding to build technology infrastructure for cross-border commerce in Africa.
Greycroft led the investment round, which included Seedcamp, Berrywood Capital, AVG Basecamp Fund, Practical VC, Plug and Play, First Round VC, Expert Dojo, 2.12 Angels, MiLA Capital, and angel investors such as Joe Cross, ex-Marketing Head at Wise (formerly TransferWise), Santosh Ankola, ex-Head of Product at TechCrunch, and Michael Pennington, co-founder of Gumtree.
“By 2025, half of the world’s population will live in Africa. At Klasha, we’re building the technology to facilitate frictionless cross-border payments and allow international businesses to scale seamlessly into Africa through our API. Equally, we’re giving consumers in Africa the same access to the global e-commerce economy experienced on other continents. It is imperative that African consumers are able to remain globally competitive, which includes having access to the goods they want without payment or delivery restrictions,” said 29-year-old Jess Anuna, Founder and CEO of Klasha, ex-Amazon, Net-a-Porter and Shopify, said.
With this financing, Klasha will be able to develop its technology to assist worldwide B2B and B2C businesses such as ASOS, Zara, Amazon, and Zoom in receiving payments in African currencies from customers all over the continent.
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Why The Investors Invested
Klasha’s proprietary technology is the driving force for the investors in the latest investment. Klasha’s core technology enables African consumers to pay international online and offline retailers in African currencies while receiving payouts in their preferred currencies, such as USD, GBP, and EUR.
Also, greatly influencing the latest round is the relative traction it has garnered over the time. Klasha is currently available in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, and the company plans to invest in increasing revenue, growing its current 10,000 customer base, and expanding into new markets in the fourth quarter of this year.
Klasha has now processed over 20,000 transactions across Africa in just five months, with a 366 percent month-on-month growth rate.
Klasha has built WooCommerce, OpenCart, and BigCommerce plugin integrations. Wix, Ecwid, Magneto, and Commerce Cloud are among the platforms supported by its integration library, which is continually expanding. With an official partnership with BigCommerce, the Klasha Checkout will be available to thousands of e-commerce stores around the world, allowing them to accept payments from African customers online.
“As Africa continues to undergo digitisation, there’s an increasing opportunity for online businesses in Europe and US to garner market share quickly by accepting payments online in African currencies due to the nascent stage of commerce on the continent. Klasha is our first investment in Africa which will allow frictionless scalability for merchants into the continent through their cross-border payment technology, enabling billions of underserved consumers to access their services,’’ Reshma Sohoni, Founding Partner at Seedcamp, said.
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Alison Lange Engel, Partner at Greycroft, said: ‘’Klasha’s technology allows for seamless cross-border transactions at a time when Africa is rapidly growing and needs both payment and logistics solutions for online commerce. We’re excited to support Klasha and their mission in simplifying borderless payments for commerce in Africa.’’
A Look At What Klasha Does
Founded in 2018 by Jessica Anuna, Klasha equips businesses with the tools they need to grow and expand into a market full of electrified customers by simplifying cross-border payments for commerce in Africa.
“We have built a secure and reliable commerce solution from scratch using modern technologies. As a business, it is important that we not only build but move fast. Every day, we are scaling our solution to solving a unique problem, connecting Africa to global merchants. Africa is a growing economy with huge potential but low card payment penetration, and we are enabling consumers in Africa to access products irrespective of their payment methods. Our multi-currency technology saves merchants the stress of dealing with all the different currencies available in Africa, allowing them to receive payouts in their dominant currency. What is amazing is not what we have built already but what we are going to build,” Oloyede Oladimeji, CTO of Klasha, said.
The startup’s major products include:
Klasha Checkout: A technology solution that allows international merchants to collect payments from Africa in local currencies. The checkout can be integrated into any e-commerce platform, website or app. Customers in Africa can make online payments in their local African currency using their choice African payment mechanism (card, bank account, USSD, M-Pesa, Mobile Money), and the merchant receives the equivalent in their chosen currency. Customers can also take advantage of low-cost and quick delivery options.
Klasha Payment Links: A no-code payment alternative for B2B and B2C companies, as well as independent sellers without an e-commerce storefront. The Klasha Payment Link allows international businesses to collect payments from customers in Africa without the need for a website, app, or any coding knowledge. Businesses can construct a simple custom checkout page right from their KlashaDash dashboard and send it to their customers via email, WhatsApp, or other social media platforms to accept payments with only a few clicks.
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Klasha mobile app: A tool that allows you to make local and international payments online in your native African currencies. There are no monthly fees. You may also make a virtual card, fund it with NGN, KES, or GHC, and track all of your transactions, including the amount paid, merchant information, card information, and more.
KlashaWire — A way for businesses to pay their international suppliers in their preferred African currency, whether it’s Naira, Cedis, or another. On the other hand, suppliers receive payment in the dominant currency of their choice. Small business owners can use this functionality to make significant payments to offshore suppliers while minimizing transaction costs straight on the Klasha dashboard. Payments are usually received in the supplier’s preferred currency within two business days.
Klasha cross-border ecommerce Klasha cross-border ecommerce Klasha cross-border ecommerce
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer