Nigerian startup founder Tunde Kara’s Vendease raises $3.2-million seed round

Nigeria-based online marketplace Vendease has raised a$3.2-million seed round to help hotels and restaurants buy food supplies in Africa, starting with Nigeria.

Vendease is a procurement platform that provides a transparent process for hotels and restaurants to purchase the best quality products at the best possible price.

The company was founded in 2020 by four Nigerians, including Tunde Kara, Olumide Fayankin, Gatumi Aliyu and Wale Oyepeju.

Vendease allows restaurants and other food businesses to buy supplies straight from manufacturers and farms to mitigate problems and inefficiencies in the unstructured food sector. The round will be deployed to accelerate its expansion across Africa.

The round was led by Global Founders Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, with participation from Y Combinator, Hustle Fund, Liquid 2 Ventures, Hack VC and Soma Capital.

Local investors and early backers, including Paga CEO Tayo Oviosu, Remita CEO John Obaro and Magic Fund, partook in the round.

Investor activities in Africa

The past few months have seen venture capitalists dive into emerging markets, particularly Africa, in search of viable investments.

Business Insider Africa reported that at least 60 investment firms have portfolios in Africa, as 8,300 African startups have raised more than $1 billion from leading global investment companies in 2021 alone.

A sizeable percentage of the African startups that have secured funding so far are fintech companies. However, investor activities have indicated that non-financial startups on the continent are equally viable.