E-commerce platform Copia raises $26 mn Series B funding led by LGT Lightstone

December 03, 2019: A six-year-old Kenyan e-commerce platform Copia has raised $26 million (KSh2.6 billion) in a Series B funding round led by LGT Lightstone, with participation from Perivoli Innovations, Endeavor Catalyst, ELEA, and Goodwell Investments, the Dutch-based impact investment firm. It follows a $2 million investment in January 2019 by Goodwell Investments.

The platform which offers mobile commerce services to low and middle-income consumers through local agents and a technology-enabled logistics service is now looking to add new delivery points within the country.

The company said that it will use the funding to expand across Kenya and other African countries. Currently, Copia has a network of over 5,000 agents spread across the country and serves over 180,000 consumers in rural Kenya.

“We built our business on a mobile platform to bring retail services to low and middle-income African consumers—consumers who are remote, unbanked, unconnected, and who may not have a valid ID or address,” said Tim Steel, CEO of Copia, Quartz reported.

The company targets the low-income population in remote areas through small shopkeepers who serve as order and delivery points.

To date, Copia has fulfilled more than two million orders and served over 300,000 customers while providing an additional source of income to its agents. Unlike major players in the space, Copia has focused on catering to low-income consumers who are underserved partly by virtue of living mainly outside urban areas.

Meanwhile, Jumia has exited Tanzania and Cameroon market citing challenging markets and the need to cut costs.