B2B eCommerce startup Sokowatch on Wednesday (March 16) announced that the company is rebranding to Wasoko after a $125 million Series B fundraising round, according to a LinkedIn post from the company.
The round valued the company at $625 million, according to a TechCrunch report.
Founder and CEO Daniel Yu started Sokowatch in Kenya in 2015 as an asset-light platform and a marketplace for distributing fast-moving consumer goods to retailers, but said that model wasn’t sustainable because the company couldn’t guarantee the delivery of goods after orders were placed.
“We realized that to deliver the quality of service these shops deserved, we needed to get more involved,” he said. “In managing the operations directly ourselves … we went from an asset-light backend distribution software platform to this market-facing platform that was out there delivering goods directly to shops themselves.”
Sokowatch expanded beyond Kenya into neighboring East African markets Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda in 2018, then mulled a rebrand and a new mode of operation.
“We wanted a brand that could be more front and center for the African retailer and easily pronounced across all markets while reflecting our East African roots,” said Yu. “So that’s why we’ve rebranded now to Wasoko, meaning ‘people of the market.’”
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Wasoko allows retailers in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Senegal to order products from suppliers by text or on its mobile app, promising same-day delivery to their stores and shops, thanks to a network of drivers. The company also offers buy now, pay later (BNPL) options.
Related: Southeast Asia Tips The B2B FinTech Funding Scales
In February 2020, the company raised $14 million in Series A funding that it said it would use to expand its operations beyond Kenya and broaden its product offerings into new areas, including working capital financing, thanks to its data analytics capabilities.
