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Copia Global, a Kenyan e-commerce business, has raised $50 million in a Series-C equity capital round headed by Goodwell Investments, a Dutch investment firm focused on financial inclusion.
Tracey Turner, an American serial investor, co-founded the Kenya-based e-commerce startup, Copia Global, in 2012 with Jonathan Lewis. The B2C e-commerce platform serves middle- and low-income African consumers.
Since 2012, it has grown to service around 1.4 million unique clients, with a compounded annual growth rate of about 200 percent, owing to the rapid adoption of the Internet among youths.
Copia distributes items to thousands of clients on a daily basis and has fulfilled more than 10 million orders to date.
Other institutional investors who participated in the recently concluded round include Zebu Investment Partners, the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and Koa Labs.
Past investors such as Light Rock, German development finance institution DEG and Perivoli Innovations also injected funds to support the operation of the firm and its expansion plans.
The $50-million capital investment will be deployed to expand Copia’s business model and operations in East Africa, namely in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, according to the company’s management.
The startup will also use the funds to grow into additional African markets, including Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi, depending on crucial macroeconomic and political factors.
Els Boerhof, associate director at Goodwell Investments, commented on the investment, saying: “Copia’s e-commerce approach is geared to satisfy the expectations of the African market.”
“We envision it as one of the next IT businesses to jump over landlines, just as mobile phones have done,” he said.
