Lipa Later - Afrikan Heroes

How Kenya’s Lipa Later Saved E-commerce Startup Sky Garden from Total Extinction

December 4, 2023

In a remarkable turnaround, Kenyan e-commerce start-up Sky Garden has resurrected from the brink of closure, thanks to a strategic Ksh.250 million ($1.6 million) investment by tech credit platform Lipa Later. The acquisition, completed in December 2022, not only breathed new life into Sky Garden but positioned it for ambitious growth, aiming to connect with 100,000 merchants in the coming year.

Lipa Later, a key player in the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service, injected fresh capital into Sky Garden, signaling a significant transformation. The revitalized platform now boasts integrated payment solutions, logistic support, marketing tools, and crucial business insights, aligning itself with the vision of becoming a commerce catalyst for businesses and communities across Africa.

Under the stewardship of Lipa Later, Sky Garden’s enhanced platform offers merchants a comprehensive suite of services, including access to financing, real-time transaction monitoring, direct bill payments, seamless deposits and withdrawals to M-Pesa or bank accounts, and the novel ability to open a bank account. This holistic approach aims to empower merchants, reduce online interactions, and facilitate sales from anywhere at any time.

The synergy between Lipa Later’s BNPL service and Sky Garden’s Amazon-style marketplace sets the stage for a customer-centric approach. Shoppers can now utilize Lipa Later’s flexible and affordable monthly instalment payment plan to purchase items, opening up new avenues for increased sales and customer engagement.

Notably, Sky Garden is expanding its horizons by venturing into social commerce. The platform introduces features that enable shoppers to discover, share, and make purchases directly within their social networks. This strategic move aligns with the evolving landscape of e-commerce, tapping into the power of social connections for both consumers and merchants.

Lipa Later Group CEO, Eric Muli, emphasized the group’s broader vision, stating, “Our group vision is to be a commerce catalyst for businesses and communities across Africa. We firmly believe that local ownership and operation are essential in understanding the needs of our people, contributing to the prosperity of our nation, and forging a true connection with our community.”

Sky Garden’s success story is particularly poignant considering its near closure in October of the previous year due to insolvency. The startup faced a funding gap in September, despite having raised over $6,000,000 (Ksh.919 million) before the acquisition. Lipa Later’s timely intervention not only saved the venture but propelled it into a phase of expansion and innovation.

Lipa Later’s strategic moves, including securing approval for fundraising in the United States and closing a Ksh.500 million debt issue, demonstrate the platform’s commitment to sustainable growth and financial stability. As one of the first African companies to receive approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lipa Later’s success story is intricately woven with Sky Garden’s resurgence, marking a transformative chapter in the landscape of Kenyan e-commerce.

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How Lipa Later Group Acquired Embattled Kenyan Ecommerce Platform Sky.Garden

December 7, 2022

Lipa Later Group has purchased Sky.Garden, re-energizing its dedication to bridge the gap between the merchant and the customer through increased empowerment for both parties, spectacular service, stellar technology, and redesigned tactics that promise to revolutionise the industry.

Lipa Later’s acquisition of Sky.Garden is a significant step forward in the group’s mission of providing creative solutions that satisfy the demands of businesses and consumers. This move will allow Lipa Later to grow its customer base and strengthen our market position.

In recent years, the e-commerce industry has flourished, allowing firms to reach clients more rapidly, cheaply, and frequently. This, according to Lipa Later, is what prompted the decision to invest in Sky.Garden.

Lipa Later CEO Eric Muli stated during the onboarding ceremony that the purchase is timely as the fintech continues to establish an end-to-end channel that links merchants to customers and vice versa.

“Guided by our objective to empower African businesses and consumers to do more by enabling e-commerce, financial inclusion and shopping all on one centralized and fully integrated platform, our plan has always been to venture into e-commerce with unique value propositions for our consumers. Sky.Garden has done an incredible job and checks all those boxes. Lipa Later is no stranger to the e-commerce industry, having already established a strong presence in the online payment and finance sectors. This acquisition has greatly accelerated our plans of redefining the shopping experience for consumers,” said Lipa Later CEO Eric Muli.

Sky.Garden, which had raised more than $6,000,000 prior to this transaction, is now completely owned by Lipa Later Group and will continue to operate under the same name.

Lipa Later is now in a position to provide a comprehensive e-commerce solution to consumers, and with Sky.Garden’s established infrastructure and market presence, consumers will be able to purchase items from Sky Garden using any preferred payment method, including Lipa Later’s buy now, pay later model, which provides a flexible and affordable payment plan through monthly instalments.

“Last month, we saw no other option than to file for insolvency,” Martin Majlund, founder of Sky.Garden, reiterated. “Today, I’m happy to see that Sky Garden will live on with new owners and new management. We built a great product over time, and I believe Lipa Later has the potential to take Sky Garden to the next level. Through this acquisition, the vision of Sky Garden will continue to live on while retaining jobs and businesses on our platform.”

Lipa said this acquisition is a key step forward in its goal of becoming a leader in the e-commerce space.

“The acquisition of Sky.Garden by Lipa Later presents a great opportunity for both companies to benefit from each other’s strengths and further the growth of the e-commerce industry. With the combination of our expertise in financial services and Sky.Garden’s innovative e-commerce platform, the potential for growth is tremendous, and the impact this could have on the industry could be immense. Expansion plans are in place to see Sky.Garden integrated across other Lipa Later countries of operation which include Rwanda, Uganda and Nigeria,” the company said in a statement.

Based in Nairobi, Lipa Later is a lending marketplace that provides postpaid payments at e-commerce stores. The startup which was founded in 2015, has raised over $13M in venture funding to date.

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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

Kenyan BNPL Startup Lipa Later Raises $12M To Accelerate Expansion

January 13, 2022

Eric Muli, Co-Founder and CEO of Lipa Later

Kenyan startup Lipa Later, which specializes in technology-based consumer credit, has successfully raised $12 million in pre-series A financing. Equity and debt financing saw the participation of Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers VC, GreenHouse Capital, SOSV IV LLC, Sayani Investments and Axian Financial Services.

The funds raised will allow the startup founded in 2018 to expand into new markets in Africa, notably in Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria, and to develop in its existing markets, namely Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

“We are delighted to be working with our investors as we seek to grow and expand into other markets in Africa. Over the next 12 months, we are looking to grow and double our presence in existing markets, even as we open three to five new markets in Africa, ”said Eric Muli, Co-Founder and CEO of Lipa Later.

The new funding comes on top of an undisclosed investment in 2020 by Tokyo-based Uncovered Fund, which invests in early stage and seed-stage startups in Africa. Lipa Later was among the five startups that received this funding.

The startup relies on data analytics to provide customers with convenient, affordable credit while monetizing through commissions and interest charges.

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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