TradeDepot Raises $110 Million to Expand Across Africa

TradeDepot, a Business-to-Business company that connects consumer goods brands to retailers and assists with distribution raised $110 Million in equity to expand its buy now pay later offering across Africa.

The latest round is a Series B and comes 18 months after the company raised $10 Million in a round led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Partech Africa.

The International Finance Corporation also led this round and investors such as Novastar, Sahel Capital, CDC Group, Endeavor Catalyst, and Partech Africa participated in the round.  Wale Ayeni, the head of Africa Venture Capital Investment for IFC, and Brian Odhiambo, the West Africa director of Novastar Ventures will join TradeDepot Board as part of the round.

TradeDepot operates a marketplace that connects small shops, kiosks, and retailers with wholesalers of global consumer brands. The company also helps with distribution by using its own warehouses and fleets of drivers to carry out distribution. TradeDepot offers buy now pay later services to merchants but instead of giving cash, it sends the products directly to them while they pay in installments. The monthly effective interest rate stands at almost 5%.

TradeDepot was founded in 2015 and is active across 12 cities in Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa(10 cities in Nigeria, Accra, and Johannesburg), with the new funding TradeDepot, plans to double down active in these three countries and increase its footprint across Nigeria by trying to capture more than 5 million small and medium businesses it sees as its target market.

The IFC Managing director Makthar Diop said “The informal sector is a large and critical part of Africa’s economy, accounting for 80% of jobs in the region. We are excited to work with TradeDepot to leverage technology to help small businesses across the continent, particularly the many retailers led by women, access the resources they need to grow and scale.”