Kenyan-based e-commerce startup Sky.Garden has raised $4 million Series A funding to accelerate its growth.
Sky.Garden is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for mobile commerce that is built specifically for African businesses. It’s an easy-to-use online marketplace that allows all informal traders and SMEs to sell their products.
Sky.Garden raised a US$1.2 million seed funding round in 2018, and it has now taken on a further US$4 million in capital via a Series A round featuring SANAD Fund for MSME, Aavishkaar, UNCOVERED FUND, and KSK Angel Fund ( founded by Japanese former AC Milan footballer Keisuke Honda)
The new funding will be used to accelerate the startup’s growth.
Since its launch in 2017, thousands of stores in Kenya have opened webshops through Sky.Garden, which allows retailers to sell products to customers without any tech background.
Purchased items are then delivered within 24 hours, and the money paid into the vendor’s account when the customer accepts the item.
“Sky.Garden’s sole focus is to provide African sellers with best-in-class technology to access and reap the benefits of online commerce. This investment round will allow Sky.Garden to drive impact at scale. I’m looking forward to an exciting new chapter with these great partners pioneering e-commerce with the African entrepreneur in mind,” said Martin Majlund, chief executive officer (CEO) of Sky.Garden.
“The pandemic has underscored the importance of digital solutions in ensuring flexible, sustainable operations for entrepreneurs. We are very pleased to be joining forces with Sky.Garden, an impactful company expanding access to the benefits of e-commerce to the locally owned businesses that drive the engine of the economy and are at the core of SANAD’s mission. With an investment into Sky.Garden, we will also enable technology transfer for the benefit of entrepreneurs in the region,” SANAD board chairperson Dr Daniela Beckmann said.
“Sky.Garden is at the forefront at offering these businesses, transformative tools to fully capitalise on the uniquely African e-commerce opportunity, emerging as one of the leading e-commerce enabling platforms on the continent,” Ashish Patel, partner at Aavishkaar Capital, said.
