Africa-focused health-technology company,Kasha, has raised more than US$21-million in a series-B funding round led by Cape Town’s Knife Capital. Other participants in the funding round were FinnFund, DFC, Altree Capital, Tim Koogle and Pam Scott, Beyond Capital Ventures, Bamboo Capital’s Bloc Smart Africa Fund, Five35 Ventures, and other new and existing investors.
“With series-B funding, Kasha is scaling its operations into South and West Africa to be Africa’s leading digital health access platform,” Knife Capital said in a statement on Monday.
Kasha recently started operating in South Africa after establishing a base in Rwanda and Kenya
Kasha is a “digital retail and last-mile distribution platform for pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods serving consumers, resellers, pharmacies, hospitals and clinics”.
Kasha founder and CEO Joanna Bichsel
The company was founded in Rwanda in 2016 and is aimed mainly at women, who it said are the most influential segment for health products and household goods.
“In Africa, women are the decision makers on 80% of household purchases, and 60% of small shop owners are women,” it said.
Kasha recently started operating in South Africa after establishing a base in Rwanda and Kenya. It plans to open operations in West Africa later this year. It will also use the latest funding round to invest in its platform and offer enterprise services.
“The exponential revenue growth we’ve experienced over the last several years was driven by the high market demand for quality, affordable health products and household goods from mass market customers in urban and rural areas of East Africa, and this has proven out our business model and our team’s ability to execute,” said Kasha founder and CEO Joanna Bichsel in the statement.
“We will be using the funds from series B to expand across Africa and invest in strategic areas of the business to further continue our high-growth trajectory,” Bichsel said.
“In the current economic climate, it is refreshing to come across such a high-growth capital efficient business that is female-led and optimised to serve the large mass market segment in Africa, being especially strong at serving women customers,” said Knife Capital founding partner Keet van Zyl.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Kasha, a Rwandan startup founded in 2016 by CEO Joanna Bichsel, recently secured a significant $21 million in a Series B investment round. The investment aims to support Kasha’s expansion and growth in the African market, focusing on providing last-mile access to health products for women. The investors who participated in the funding round include Knife Capital, Finnfund, DFC, Tim Koogle (ex-Yahoo CEO), Beyond Capital Ventures, Altree Capital, Bamboo Capital’s BLOC Smart Africa Fund, and Five35 Ventures.
Kasha operates as a digital retail platform with a unique focus on women’s health products and household items. Its customer base includes individual consumers, small resellers, hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics. The startup initially began with a direct-to-consumer model in Rwanda, offering last-mile delivery of health products for women and newborns. As demand increased, Kasha expanded into the wholesale market after obtaining a pharmaceutical license, enabling them to serve a broader range of healthcare providers.
The investment amount of $21 million is a substantial capital infusion that reflects investor confidence in Kasha’s business model and its potential to address the healthcare needs of Africa’s growing population. The funding will facilitate the company’s expansion into South Africa and West Africa, further solidifying Kasha’s position as a key player in the digital health retail space.
Why The Investors Invested
The investors’ decision to commit $21 million to Kasha can be attributed to several compelling and fact-based reasons. Africa’s rapidly expanding population presents an immense opportunity for healthcare-related ventures. Kasha’s focus on women’s health products addresses a crucial market segment, considering women’s role as both primary consumers of health products and decision-makers in household health matters.
Again, Kasha’s impressive track record of growth and success played a pivotal role in attracting investors. With a remarkable 50x growth in annual recurring revenue since its Series A round, Kasha has demonstrated its ability to scale rapidly and meet the high demand for quality and affordable health products in both urban and rural areas of East Africa.
Additionally, the startup’s differentiated approach sets it apart from other B2B e-commerce platforms in the region. Kasha’s strategic focus on health products, combined with its collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers, ensures the authenticity and quality of its offerings. This reliability and specialization make Kasha an attractive investment option for investors seeking exposure to the growing African healthcare market.
Furthermore, Kasha’s expansion plans into South Africa and West Africa offer promising prospects for growth. The investors recognize the potential of the startup’s mission to become Africa’s leading digital platform for last-mile access to health products, aligning with the continent’s evolving healthcare landscape.
Credits: Kasha
A Look At Kasha
Founded in 2016 by CEO Joanna Bichsel, Kasha is a Rwandan startup that operates as a digital retail platform, specializing in women’s health products and household items. The company’s mission revolves around providing last-mile access to health products for women, catering to their menstrual and reproductive health needs. Kasha serves a diverse customer base, including individual consumers, small resellers, hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics.
Kasha began its journey with a direct-to-consumer model, offering last-mile delivery of health products for women and newborns in Rwanda. Over time, the startup expanded into the wholesale market after obtaining a pharmaceutical license, enabling them to serve pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics. This expansion allowed Kasha to broaden its product range, including maternal and newborn health products, family planning items, sexual and reproductive health products, and noncommunicable disease solutions.
The recent $21 million Series B investment marks a significant milestone for Kasha, fueling its ambitious plans to expand further into South Africa and West Africa. The startup’s success is underpinned by its strategic focus on health products, direct collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers, and its use of various content channels to disseminate health and safety information. With a dedicated team and proven experience in scaling rapidly, Kasha aims to achieve its mission of becoming Africa’s foremost digital platform for last-mile access to health products.
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
Beyond Capital Ventures, a new women-led impact venture capital business, is thrilled to announce its second investment: Kasha Global, East Africa’s premier femtech retailer for high-quality, affordable health and personal care items. With a $300,000 investment, Beyond Capital Ventures is heading Kasha’s Series A2 Bridge fundraising round.
“The truth is, women are very influential customers in consumer products, health and family related household purchases. But when you look at how tech solutions are traditionally built, they are usually built by men for men. The largest customer base in health and personal care, which is women, is massively underserved,” says CEO Joanna Bichsel. “I want Kasha to make sure that no woman ever has a difficult time in getting the self-care products she needs to live her best life.”
Why The Investor Invested
Kasha presently operates in Rwanda and Kenya, and has supplied over 8 million goods to far. The company wants to “disrupt global health forever,” according to Bichsel, by becoming a global leader in the provision of products and information related to women’s health and personal wellness in Africa.
“We are excited to strengthen our partnership with Kasha. Joanna and her team are deeply passionate about revolutionizing women’s access to healthcare,” said Eva Yazhari, Beyond Capital Ventures General Partner. “The team’s passion and commitment has allowed Kasha to navigate the pandemic and enter 2022 stronger than ever. I look forward to supporting Kasha and seeing what this next phase of growth has in store for them.”
Beyond Capital Ventures is a women-led impact venture capital business focused on emerging countries, with a diversified, dynamic, and low-risk portfolio. The company invests in the next wave of technologies that will meet the needs of India’s and East Africa’s 1 billion+ consumers. Beyond Capital Ventures will invest in conscious leaders establishing firms to solve expanding needs in “need-to-have” areas, primarily healthcare, agriculture, and financial inclusion, and will open in Spring 2021. The fund will also be the first to use an Equitable Venture structure, which gives Series A level founders a profit share in the GP carry. http://www.beyondcapitalventures.com
A Look At What Kasha Global Does
Kasha was founded in 2016 by CEO Joanna Bichsel, who previously worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a Principal Technology Advisor for Global Development and at Microsoft in various roles. Kasha was inspired by Joanna’s own motherhood journey and the lack of affordable women’s health and wellness products in Africa and other emerging markets.
In East Africa, Kasha has become a well-known and trusted brand. By selling health and pharmaceutical products to smaller stores, the company empowers its primarily female client base and network of sales agents, as well as reaching consumers directly to the last mile. Kasha’s revolutionary mass market consumer-facing platform also disseminates health and wellness information for women.
Kasha is unusual among its competitors in that it provides both online and offline services to people of all income levels. Kasha’s extensive delivery ecosystem has made it the only digital rural delivery service of any type in several parts of Kenya.
Beyond Capital Ventures Kasha Beyond Capital Ventures Kasha
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
