Ivorian startup, Anka, raises $5 million pre-Series A round

Anka, an Ivorian e-commerce startup with the majority of its vendors in Nigeria and Kenya, has raised $5 million in equity and debt as an extension round. 

Anka, an Ivorian startup that operates three e-commerce products, has raised a pre-Series A extension round worth $5 million, after raising a $6.2 million pre-Series A round last year. This brings the total amount raised by Anka to $13.5 million. The round was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with participation from Proparco and Bpifrance, an investment bank.

Founded by Luc B. Perussault Diallo, Moulaye Taboure, and Kadry Diallo, the startup, previously known as Afrikrea (a marketplace for African clothes and art), rebranded into Anka and added a payment (Anka Pay) and shipping product (Anka Shipping) to the marketplace by partnering with DHL and Visa. 

According to Kadry Diallo, the co-founder and COO, the startup has grown from recording over 700,000 monthly visits and $35 million in transactions last year to recording over 1 million visits and $50 million now. This has helped the startup grow its gross revenue from €200,000 to €3.6 million in the same period.

“We have grown in terms of community buyers and sellers since last year. The more our community grows, the more processes have to be efficient. That’s why we raised an extension to strengthen our processes and build teams too,” he said. The startup will use the funding to grow its sales, technical, and product teams as it looks to grow its vendor count from 20,000 to 100,000 by 2030.

This funding will further cement Anka’s position as the most funded startup in Cote d’Ivoire and continue the wave of increased investment in francophone Africa. “Abidjan is not only a hidden gem for African startups but for the African economy in general. We have a strong economy and great infrastructure that isn’t talked about much,” Moulaye Taboure, the co-founder and CEO at Anka, told TechCabal last year. 

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