Zambian construction e-commerce startup Bosso raised $400K Pre-seed funding

Bosso, a Zambian startup that offers innovative construction e-commerce solutions to the African building and construction industry, has raised US $400,000 in a pre-seed round of funding to expand its platform and add new features.

Bosso, Zambia’s largest online marketplace for construction materials for hardware stores and contractors, was founded in 2022 by Chisepo Chirwa, Mukopaje Singogo, Ibn Kafwanka, and Salwa Shamapande. Because the platform makes high-quality, reasonably priced building materials available to everyone in Zambia, the construction industry benefits.

“What initially began as an online marketplace that streamlined the sourcing of building materials for hardware stores, has evolved into a holistic B2B and B2C solution to address the 60 million housing deficit across Africa,” Chirwa, Bosso’s CEO told media.

Over 1,000 hardware stores in Zambia have been on boarded by the startup thus far, and it has provided over 200 homebuilders with source materials and construction materials to four of the country’s ten provinces. Its pre-seed round of funding, which totaled US$400,000 and came from Leonard by Vinci, Launch Africa Ventures, Renew Capital, Change-Com, and other angel investors, will be used to develop new products and expand operations within its home market.

“The remainder of this year and 2025 will see Bosso transfer the two years of data they have acquired to their AI technology in order to drastically decrease the inefficiencies across the sector. We will be launching a new platform that adds on essential services on top of the materials we already offer. Services such as land conveyance, financing, “save now pay later”, and access to construction companies,” said Chirwa.

He stated that Bosso planned to launch its seed round in August and was tasked with sourcing materials for more than 5,000 homes by 2025.

“The housing crisis is real, and Africa needs a Bosso tackling this issue because everyone deserves decent and affordable housing. We want to bring our mission to the entire continent, starting with Southern Africa, as well launch a new AI building materials assistant to accelerate our solution.”