…welcomes Aruwa Capital as an equity investor.
Africa’s fastest-growing furniture brand Taeillo has raised $2.5 million in equity funding to expand the delivery of innovative, affordable, and locally manufactured furniture to homes and businesses on the continent.
Aruwa Capital, a growth equity fund investing in Africa, is providing the entire $2.5 million investment. With this funding, Taeillo aims to improve customer experience and facilitate continental growth with this expansion round. Aruwa Capital joins other existing investors in the company founded in 2018.
The investment is a significant boost for Taeillo’s founder Jumoke Dada and other African female founders building products and services for the continent.
Since its inception, the company has raised a total of $315,000 in seed funding which enabled the company to develop its first prototype lab and also launch the pilot of its AR/VR to enhance shopping experiences for customers.
Narrating the impact the fund will have on Taeillo, founder Jumoke Dada said, “This partnership with Aruwa Capital will take us one step closer to realizing our vision of becoming the IKEA of Africa by producing high-quality, and ready-to-assemble furniture pieces made in Africa at an affordable price for the mass market; while streamlining our business processes and improving our customer experience.”
With this investment, the furniture brand will also seek to “reduce the production and the delivery timeline to the shortest possible time we can imagine” and “launch more products that more Africans will love and want.”
According to Dada, Taeillo will deploy resources to drive expansion into East Africa and the diaspora powered by the delivery of innovative pieces. “We want more homes and businesses in new markets to have a feel of our presence through our furniture”, Dada said.
Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Founder & Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital, said: “We are thrilled to announce this investment into Taeillo as it aligns with nearly all of our investment objectives. Since its inception, the Company has maintained its innovative model in a traditional brick-and-mortar industry, creating a unique value proposition for its customers in a fast-growing, underserved market. By leveraging technology in its value chain, Taeillo has been able to achieve exponential growth in less than 2 years, achieving results that take traditional furniture companies decades to achieve. 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.”
Founded in 2018 by Jumoke Dada, Taeillo has grown from being a one-man artist show to a leading creative African furniture business with scores of designers. The business has successfully leveraged Technology and Prototype Labs for business expansion and delivery of furniture pieces to customers in Nigeria and Kenya. Taeillo has so far shipped over 10,000 furniture pieces to over 5,000 customers in both markets.
Taeillo is committed to making every African home have at least a piece of its furniture. Recently, the business launched Paywithflexi – a product that allows customers to pay in installments for furniture. Since its launch, the product has had over 200 early adopters with considerable traction thus validating the need for a product like this.
