$110 M Series B funding secured by Nigerian retail-tech startup TradeDepot

TradeDepot, a B2B e-commerce and integrated finance platform based in Nigeria, has secured US $110 million in an equity and debt Series B investment round to enhance the delivery of buy-now-pay-later services to five million SMEs retailers throughout the continent.

TradeDepot, which was founded in 2016, connects African consumer products businesses with a target market of several million retail outlets throughout the continent. The firm offers a wide selection of consumer items to SME shops in its network via its ShopTopUp platform, as well as credit lines that allow these merchants to obtain inventory and pay in instalments as they sell to their own consumers.

TradeDepot, which has operations in 12 cities throughout Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, uses its data, technology, and sophisticated logistical operations to link merchants with suppliers and unlock funding to fund inventory purchases, allowing for more sales and higher profits.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) sponsored a US $110 million Series B equity investment, which included Novastar, Sahel Capital, CDC Group, Endeavor Catalyst, and previous investors Partech and MSA Capital. Arcadia Funds led the debt financing.

The money will help the company expand its buy-now-pay-later service to additional stores, expanding consumer goods brand penetration and driving prosperity in one of the continent’s most important industries.

TradeDepot has built a network of leading consumer goods brands and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Africa, as well as a proprietary risk scoring engine that predicts creditworthiness based on a retailer’s purchase history, previous repayment performance, and other related data points. Retail shop owners have seen a 200 percent rise in transaction volumes thanks to this financing model and industry-leading technologies to assist logistical operations.