Kenyan social commerce startup Tushop raises Ksh.345M in pre-seed round

Founded in 2021, the company’s platform enables customers to buy groceries online at more affordable prices compared to supermarkets, local retailers and ‘mama mbogas’.

Tushop uses community leaders who collect orders from their neighbours and handle door-to-door deliveries, with an added free delivery perk.

According to the company founder and CEO Cathy Chepkemboi, each community leader has a virtual shop where the neighbours place their orders, which are then aggregated in bulk to manufacturers and producers, like farmers. 

Customers save up to 60% by shopping on the platform, even with the agents earning sales commissions.

The round was led by 4DX Ventures and saw the participation of JAM Fund, Breyer Capital, Chandaria Capital, TO Ventures, Golden Palm Investments, FirstCheck Africa, and DFS Lab, among others.

With the new funding, the startup is planning to expand its operations in Nairobi and grow across the country soon after.

“We are going to scale across Nairobi, and because it is an operationally intensive business, we [immediately] need more warehouses and delivery trucks. We are hiring and also improving our technology and our agents’ channels to make the experience even better,” Chepkemboi told TechCrunch.

On his part, Peter Orth, managing partner at 4DX, said Tushop was staring at a large market opportunity, hailing Chepkemboi as the right founder to go after it due to her deep understanding of the market.

“We’re thrilled to join such a strong team of other investors and advisors to help Tushop become the dominant player in group-buying across Africa,” he said.

Ms. Chepkemboi holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to launching Tushop, she was Head of Brand, Marketing & Product Development at MoKo Home and has also worked as Shopper Marketing Analyst at multinational consumer goods company Unilever.