MoKo Home, a Kenyan furniture startup, has raised $6.5 million in Series B debt-equity investment.
The round was co-led by Talanton and AlphaMundi Group. Blink CV and Novastar Ventures were among those that took part. Victoria Commercial Bank in Kenya additionally contributed $3 million in debt financing, $1 million of which is mezzanine financing — debt that may be converted into equity.
MoKo also intends to use the funds to enhance its development and presence in Kenya through online channels and new relationships with merchants and outlets to increase offline sales.
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According to a statement, Eric Kouskalis, managing director of MoKo, and Fiorenzo Conte launched the firm to assure and supply high-quality furniture and ease to its consumers.
So, in 2014, the firm was founded as Watervale Investment Limited to address issues with raw material supply in the furniture sector.
However, in 2017, it shifted gears and began testing its first consumer product (a mattress), and a year later, it launched the MoKo Home + Living brand to target the general market.
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According to the firm, its products are being used in over 370,000 Kenyan homes.
It intends to sell to millions of households over the next several years as it begins to scale manufacturing and expand its product portfolio.
Furthermore, MoKo aspires to provide a product for every major piece of furniture present in a typical home, such as the bed frame, TV stand, coffee table, and carpet.
Furthermore, it intends to create more affordable things in the conventional product categories of couches and mattresses.
MoKo intends to use the funds to extend its development and presence in
Kenya through online channels and new relationships with merchants and outlets to increase offline sales. It also aims to purchase further tools.
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It intends to grow into three more areas and gain a substantial client base by 2025.
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