$15 M Pre-Series A funding raised by Nigerian retail-tech startup Omnibiz
In order to speed retailer development and retention and increase its revenues fourfold, Nigerian retail-tech firm Omnibiz has obtained a US $15 million pre-Series A round of investment.
Omnibiz, a platform founded in June 2019 by Deepankar Rustagi, enables retailers to make orders at their leisure and have products delivered to their doorstep for free. The company’s mobile apps, a WhatsApp channel, and a dedicated care number are all available to retailers for stocking up their stores.
The business has secured a US $5 million pre-Series A investment, headed by Timon Capital, after raising a US $3 million seed fundraising round in August of last year. The round, which was composed of US $5 million in equity and US $10 million in debt, also included participation from Ventures Platform, LoftyInc Capital Management, Chapel Hill Denham, Chandaria Capital, and Musha Ventures.
With the money, Omnibiz will intensify its efforts to retain retail clients and gain their loyalty. Omnibiz forecasts a 4x revenue increase for its retailers by implementing its comprehensive strategy to become the primary B2B operating system for retailers. This includes aiding with last-mile delivery, procurement, working capital, inventory management, and operational tools for tracking sales, cost, prices, and profit. This month, the business will start its regional growth.
The business has quickly expanded into a top B2B e-commerce platform, linking merchants in Nigeria and Ghana with more than 200 brands delivered through a network of more than 70 logistics partners. Retailers may analyze inventory stock in real-time and avoid buying SKUs that they would find difficult to sell by utilizing the information supplied by the platform.
“We believe the smart informal retailer – not shopping malls – is the future of modern retail in Africa. By providing the capital, tools and logistics, we will enable retailers to offer great merchandising at an affordable price point to win their customers’ trust. This funding will allow us to quadruple the profitability of our retailers, build a scalable and profitable business, and take us one step closer to transforming African retail,” said Rustagi.
“We invested in Omnibiz because we believe that it is solving a much-needed problem,” said Nikos Katsaounis, Timon Capital partner. “The FMCG supply chain is fragmented, inefficient, and opaque. Omnibiz tackles all of these problems and addresses them with an efficient software layer that provides much-needed data on this otherwise obscure market and supply chain. Deepankar Rustagi is an excellent operating CEO.”
