Chpter’s $1.2 Million Investment: Transforming African Social Media into Sales

Chpter, a Kenyan e-commerce startup co-founded by the team behind YC-backed Marketforce, has secured $1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round. The funds will be used to enhance its technology infrastructure and support its planned expansion into Egypt and Nigeria.

Established in 2022 by Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin, and Mark Kiarie, Chpter enables businesses to transform social media platforms into sales channels through integrated chat, order, and payment tools. The company charges a monthly subscription and earns transaction fees from payments processed on its platform. Notable clients include Britam, Kicks Kenya, and Phoneplace, with operations currently spanning Kenya and South Africa.

According to Tesh Mbaabu, Chpter’s co-founder and CEO, the company is focused on advancing its tech stack to create a comprehensive solution that connects social media APIs like WhatsApp and Instagram with e-commerce platforms and customer relationship management systems such as Shopify and Woocommerce.

The funding round was led by Pani, an Africa-focused investment firm co-founded by former Cellulant CEO Ken Njoroge. Other participants included Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, ViKtoria Ventures, and several angel investors, including Nala founder Benjamin Fernandes and Workpay co-founders Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo.

This investment highlights investor confidence in the startup, which was launched while its founders were still managing Marketforce, a Kenyan e-commerce platform that had previously been valued at over $100 million.

Source: Kenn Abuya / TechCabal