Meet Namibia-based entrepreneur who secured $15 million in funding for his startup

David Akinin is a Namibia-based entrepreneur who has made a significant impact in the world of business, both in Africa and beyond.

Born in Venezuela, Akinin began his career as a Corporate Philanthropy Intern at the Bank of America, where he worked on education policy panels with influential figures such as Bob Weiss and Brian Gallagher, the former president and CEO of United Way.

In 2005, Akinin co-founded Shoes4Africa, a company that sent more than 6,000 pairs of shoes to Africa in partnership with FedEx.

This early foray into entrepreneurship sparked a desire to create value for both society and himself, leading him to become the vice president of Canaryville Little League. In this role, he was able to restructure a 300-player little league organization, raising over $76,000 to build and renovate a stadium and field on the South Side of Chicago.

Since then, the Namibia-based entrepreneur has gone on to co-found several successful businesses and hold strategic executive positions in leading organizations.

One of his most notable achievements is his role as Managing Director and founder of Namibia Property Group, where he was instrumental in the development and financing of affordable housing and middle-income residential properties in Namibia.

In 2020, he established JABU, a Windhoek-based business-to-business e-commerce startup, with the goal of improving Namibia’s inefficient supply chain and distribution channels.

The startup has since become Southern Africa’s fastest-growing e-commerce platform for small retailers, connecting more than 6,000 retailers to local and multinational suppliers such as Namibia Breweries Limited, ABInBev, Bokomo, Coca-Cola, and Namibmills.

Its success has been recognized by investors, with the startup securing $15 million in a Series-A funding round led by Tiger Global, a U.S. investment firm focused on the internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries.

This funding round followed a previous one in which JABU raised $3.2 million for its B2B e-commerce and retail efforts.

The $15-million capital injection secured from Tiger Global and other institutional investors will be used to expand the startup’s presence in Southern Africa, with plans to enter new markets such as Botswana and Eswatini later this year.

Akinin spoke about JABU’s competitive advantage, saying that the company is “attempting to build a business that introduces products into the market and then continues on a journey that has a multiplier effect of moving that money 20 times around that market.”

He also stated that the company intends to expand and revolve around its Jwallet, which is currently available as a standalone product.

JABU intends to enable those who receive money through the wallet to withdraw at merchants using physical float by connecting an API to banks and the interchange.