Kenyan-based restaurant procurement management startup, TopUp Mama has a new identity. The company announced their rebrand today in a press statement shared with TechCabal.
TopUp Mama(now Caantin), which operates in Nigeria and Kenya, allowed restaurants and food vendors to restock through a digital platform. The startup sourced supplies from distributors and farmers and delivers inventory to vendors and other end-of-chain users. It will now continue its operations under a new name. “This new brand identity and enhanced platform embody our dedication to boosting the restaurant industry’s contribution to Africa’s GDP and providing better financing access for restaurants and suppliers,” the company statement reads in part.
Part of the rebrand includes the launch of an enhanced procurement platform to help restaurants manage vendors. In its two years of operation, the startup claims to have worked with over 4,300 restaurants, from local family-owned establishments to well-known chains like Mr Biggs in Nigeria and Sheraton Hotel in Kenya, who used TopUp Mama to manage procurement. Caantin also offers inventory financing for its customers.
“Over the past decade, we’ve seen tremendous advancements in front-of-office restaurant operations, with platforms like Square and Toast improving payments, and Uber Eats and DoorDash enabling online stores and digital transactions. However, outdated methods for vendor payments and supply orders persist,” said Njavwa Mutambo, Founder and CEO of Caantin.
Njavwa Mutambo, who co-founded TopUp Mama in February 2021, says he hopes Caantin will transform back-office operations for the food business and help reduce the cost of sales.
Caantin says it grew revenue by 270% last year and financed millions of dollars in inventory, underscoring demand for liquidity solutions for restaurants and suppliers. The revenue growth and need to build a better solution that combined all its offerings at scale, led the team to rebuild TopUp Mama as Caantin.
In March 2022, TopUp Mama closed $1.7 million in seed funding bringing the total amount it had raised to $2.16 million. TopUp Mama plans to reach 50,000 businesses in Kenya and Nigeria, TechCrunch reported in May last year.
Caantin is playing in a market that is increasingly becoming attractive for investors due to the huge procurement gaps that exist on the continent. Last year, amid a venture downturn, a Nigerian procurement platform, Vendease, raised $30 million in equity and debt funding to expand its operations in Africa, a testament to the increasing investors’ appetite for tech-powered farm-to-table solutions.
