Duhqa, a Nairobi-based business that offers a B2B platform for retail distribution of consumer goods in FMCG, Cold Chain, and Pharmaceuticals, has acquired US$2 million in seed funding to extend its service offering in Kenya and East Africa. The funding round was supported by CrosssFund, Roselake Ventures, and Mo Angels. Current investors such as Techstars and strategic angels were also featured.
The seed round comes seven months after Duhqa received a pre-seed round of $150,000 last year.
Why The Investors Invested
Investors appeared to be drawn in because of the founder’s previous experiences. Victor Maina, the CEO and founder, spent over a decade at DHL Express, where he led the East and South African area at one point. He has substantial business and logistical experience in 31 African countries. After DHL, he transitioned to the startup world, starting businesses in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria before launching Duhqa. Duhqa has witnessed great growth under his guidance and has received over 5 international honours, including the Seedstars and Financial Times SDG challenge, the Unicorn Battle of Africa, the Wazo Challenge East Africa, Entrepreneur of the Year from Afric Angels, and the CX eCommerce awards in Canada.
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“CrossFund is proud to be investing in Duhqa as they grow across Eastern Africa. Victor and team have shown that they understand the market, its pain points, and how to best deliver daily necessities to the local communities that need them most. We look forward to supporting Duhqa in scaling their logistics capabilities so that they can widen their impact and continue improving the quality of life of everyday people,” Benjamin Cardarelli, co-founder of CrossFund, said.
“We are excited to join Duhqa as it expands in Kenya and beyond. We have been truly inspired and impressed by its sharp team, and its business model and look forward to helping them along the way to conquering this key link in giving greater access to goods and services to underserved communities,” Mo Angels spokesman said.
“Duhqa not only has a deep understanding of the supply chain pain points faced by local retailers, but also offers an effective solution to address them. In addition, Duhqa is creating tremendous social value by bridging the gap between retailers and manufacturers to offer affordable daily goods for local communities. We look forward to being a long-term partner of Duhqa’s A-class team and support them to further expand their outreach,” Roselake Ventures said in a statement
A Look At What The Startup Does
Duhqa is a B2B retail tech platform founded in 2021 by Victor Maina, Davis Angwenyi, and Dudu Moilwa that enables informal African traders to digitally source and pay for products, get convenient delivery, and get short-term finance.
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This strategy improves efficiency throughout the sales and supply distribution chains.
Their system optimises the informal “Dukas” mini stores in Kenya, where over 5,000 merchants have already signed up, by connecting them to manufacturers.
The Nairobi-based company has little resources, no vehicles or storage facilities, and relies on third-party transportation suppliers. Suppliers using the platform can access dashboards where they can track product delivery locations, evaluate critical performance indicators, and plan to merchandise.
They can also employ shop premises for marketing initiatives, product giveaways, and merchandising revenue.
Duhqa, which currently employs 40 people and has an asset-light strategy, intends to expand its workforce by the end of the year. Duhqa intends to use the funds raised in this round of investment to expand its merchant network and deliver more digital solutions to its expanding markets.
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“The significant demand for our solution, an improved way for companies to distribute their goods and services to mass markets in Africa has caught on. We are thrilled to get a boost from returning and new investors at this crucial time. This will enable us to continue making it easier for retailers to trade by connecting them to manufacturers and give them the resources to be efficient,’’ Victor Maina the CEO & Founder, said.
Duhqa was in secret mode for much of last year before joining Techstars during the October 2021 cohort (the first time for a Kenyan startup).
Duhqa retail Duhqa retail
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