Chpter, a Kenyan e-commerce startup, has successfully raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round aimed at enhancing its technology stack and expanding into new markets, including Egypt and Nigeria. Founded in 2022 by Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin, and Mark Kiarie, Chpter is poised to revolutionize how businesses convert social media channels into effective sales platforms.
The company, which currently operates in Kenya and South Africa, provides businesses with tools for chat, order management, and payment processing, allowing them to transform social media from a mere marketing channel into a full-fledged sales platform. Chpter’s revenue model includes a monthly subscription fee coupled with a transaction fee for payments processed on its platform. The startup has already secured a number of prominent clients, including insurer Britam, shoe store Kicks Kenya, and e-commerce platform Phoneplace.
“We are investing in our tech stack to offer an end-to-end product, connecting the APIs from social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram with popular e-commerce and customer relationship management systems like Shopify and Woocommerce,” said Tesh Mbaabu, Chpter’s co-founder and CEO.
The funding round was led by Pani, an Africa-focused investment firm co-founded by former Cellulant CEO Ken Njoroge. Other participants in the round included Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, ViKtoria Ventures, and a number of angel investors, including Nala founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes, and Workpay co-founders Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo.
Chpter’s journey has been marked by significant milestones, including its acceptance into the Norrsken Accelerator in 2023 and the Safaricom Spark Accelerator in May 2024. These accelerators provided the startup with valuable resources and positioned it as a key player in the conversational commerce space. The Safaricom Spark Accelerator reportedly invested between $150,000 and $500,000 in Chpter, although the exact amount remains undisclosed. Safaricom did not participate in the latest pre-seed round.
The startup’s founding team includes veterans from Marketforce, a Y Combinator-backed Kenyan e-commerce platform valued at over $100 million. Although Chpter operates independently from Marketforce, some of its investors had previously backed Marketforce, adding a layer of confidence in the startup’s potential.
Chpter’s strategic focus on enhancing its technology and expanding into new markets reflects the growing demand for seamless e-commerce solutions that integrate social media with sales channels. As the company continues to build on its early successes, it is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the rapidly evolving landscape of digital commerce in Africa.