$2.5M in Funding Raised by Nigerian Online Furniture Seller Taeillo

Nigerian online furniture store Taeillo now has $2.5 million in funding raised to ramp up production.

The Lagos-based investment company Aruwa Capital Management, a female-founded and led impact investor, provided the capital, which it announced earlier this month (Dec.12).

“We are thrilled to announce this investment into Taeillo as it aligns with nearly all of our investment objectives […]

“In line with Aruwa’s gender lens investing strategy, Taeillo is founded and led by a woman and has a 50% female representation in its management team. We are very confident in the company’s ability to scale across Africa and are thrilled to be partnering with the team for the exciting journey ahead,” said Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, founder and managing partner at Aruwa Capital.

Jumoke Dada, founder and CEO at Taeillo, added, “this investment […] will take us closer to our goal of becoming the IKEA of Africa by providing quality, ready-to-assemble, made-in-Africa furniture pieces at an affordable price point for the mass market, while also optimizing our operations, delivery time and customer experience.”

Founded in 2018, Taeillo sources materials from local suppliers and locally manufactured furniture, including tables, chairs, beds and sofas, which it sells to individual customers and businesses in Nigeria and Kenya.

Aruwa said that Taeillo provides an African alternative to imported flat pack furniture “at a fraction of the importation price and with a 50% reduction in delivery time” to between four and eight weeks.

With furniture retailers like IKEA bumping their prices, a business model built around affordability is likely to resonate with African consumers.

And with the logistics of importing and exporting furniture as complex as ever, Taeillo’s African supply chains can also help remove some of the headaches furniture retailers face moving goods across borders.

As Gregg Brockway, CEO and co-founder at Chairish, told PYMNTS recently, international logistics is one of the biggest challenges of selling furniture online.

“Most people don’t know how to do it across town, let alone across countries around the world,” he said, adding that getting shipping right is even more important when it comes to valuable, fragile items.

See more: Localized Solutions Simplify Global Logistics for Vintage Home Furnishings Marketplace

Calling taxes and customs duties “a thorny problem” that complicates the issue of estimating shipping costs, Brockway said that “where we are most challenged today is to […] get taxes and duties and shipping fees correct.”

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