$1 M pre-seed funding raised by Kenyan AI-powered conversational e-commerce startup Elloe

Elloe, a conversational e-commerce business based in Kenya, has acquired $1 million in pre-seed funding to help it grow across emerging countries.

Elloe is a first-of-its-kind AI-powered conversational commerce platform that allows SMEs to purchase and sell things online across any messaging network. It was founded by Owen Sakawa.

Mad Ventures, located in the Philippines, led the $1 million pre-seed fundraising round, which would help Elloe grow throughout Kenya and other emerging economies.

“We are very excited and humbled by the opportunity to partner with Mad Ventures and join its growing livelihood ecosystem as digital ambassadors to local Kenyan entrepreneurs. The new funds will give us sufficient runway to grow our local Kenyan operations and fuel expansion into the Philippine and Southeast Asian markets well into 2023 and beyond,” Sakawa said.

“Mad Ventures continues to make major progress in delivering digital livelihood options to the unemployed and unbanked, in response to the demands of businesses and consumers in emerging countries. We are thrilled to be joining Elloe to broaden our collective reach and assist businesses, particularly underserved micro-SMEs, in realising their full potential,” said Mad Ventures CEO Aaron Madolara.