In April of this year, Jumba, a B2B construction technology platform, was launched with the intention of bridging this gap through an online platform that allows operators of hardware stores (retailers of construction materials) to seamlessly restock. Jumba has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to refine its technology and expand its reach to capture markets in major cities across Kenya.
Enza Capital led the pre-seed round, with Seedstars International Ventures, Chandaria Capital, Future Africa, Logos Ventures, First Check Africa, and a number of angel investors also participating.
“We have started to expand our products according to regional demands and the needs of hardware stores. The idea is to make Jumba the source of all construction materials in Kenya and, when we eventually grow, beyond its borders,” Jumba CEO Kagure Wamunyu, who co-founded the startup with Miano Njoka (CTO), said.
Enza Capital’s managing partner Mike Mompi said, “Africa’s populations are rapidly growing and increasingly urbanizing, and the construction industry is a core economic engine supporting sustainable growth Across Africa. In a $10 trillion industry yet to be reshaped by technology, we are thrilled to be backing Kagure and the exceptional team building Jumba.”
A Look At What The Startup Does
Launched in April of this year, Jumba is a B2B construction technology platform that enables operators of hardware stores, which can be found on nearly every street, to effortlessly refill.
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Wamunyu stated that her experiences as a real estate entrepreneur, where she was constantly confronted with inefficiencies in the purchasing of building materials due to shifting costs and occasional stockouts, inspired the launch of Jumba. Wamunyu, a construction engineer and contractor, assisted Uber in rolling out its services in Kenya. He was also a member of the team that pushed Kobo360, a logistics digital firm, to expand across Africa. Her co-founder, Njoka, is a software engineer who previously invested in real estate projects with her.
Wamunyu stated that as Jumba connects manufacturers with retailers, the startup will also ensure that small hardware stores (which lack sufficient storage) are connected to medium-sized ones near their regions, from which they can easily update their inventories, thereby eliminating the need for spatial expansion.
“We will partner with different retailers in different neighborhoods who then can support the smaller ones, as opposed to working with a warehouse model. We will be supplying these big players and the smaller hardware stores will be picking their stock from these locations,” she said.
Jumba negotiates product prices (including markup) with producers. It also permits resellers to pay on delivery for orders. Wamunyu states that they are also contemplating the introduction of the buy now, pay later (BNPL) option to enable their top-performing customers to expand their stock and improve their earnings.
“BNPL can be used to help them stock more, and it is a product that will be introduced but it will be built on the back of the reseller’s order history,” said Wamunyu.
For a swift launch, Jumba has engaged Peace Osangir as CFO to oversee the startup’s finances and risk management. Osangir was once the chief operating officer of the payments company Kopo Kopo and the original financial manager of Kenya’s first mobile lender, Mshwari, which is supported by East Africa’s largest telecom Safaricom and regional bank NCBA.
In order to expand its pool of suppliers and distributors, Wamunyu stated that the firm is now recruiting manufacturers and hardware stores outside of Nairobi.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh