Seven-figure Pre-seed funding raised by Senegalese FMCG intelligence startup Lengo AI

Lengo AI, a Senegalese FMCG intelligence startup, has secured a seven-figure pre-seed round of funding to support the growth of its team and product as well as its entry into additional African markets.

Lengo AI was established in 2022 by Max Smith, Roger Xavier Macia, and Ismaila Seck and is the continent’s first data-driven operating system for unorganized retail. It uses its software-as-a-service platform to connect retailers and FMCG companies with real-time performance data on the sales of products in an effort to provide intelligence and highly actionable insights to FMCG brands coming from the thousands of corner shops.

Acasia Ventures and Ventures Platform, two early-stage VC firms, co-led the startup’s seven-figure pre-seed round, which also included participation from P1 Ventures, Launch Africa, Voltron Capital, as well as a number of other VCs and angel investors. Lengo AI will use the funding to grow its tech and sales teams, develop the AI component of its product, and expand into new African markets.

“Lengo AI’s platform already provides near real-time market monitoring from a ground-level perspective for over 2,000 products. Now we are working on leveraging AI to connect at scale with the last node of the retail network: the corner shops,” Smith said. “We’re building a very low friction technology with retailers and actively recruiting for the best AI and software engineers. Thanks to the support from Acasia Ventures, we hope to gain expertise in Nigeria and Egypt, and accordingly, make the right connections in both countries to expand our product for shopkeepers and work with brands to stop guessing Africa.”