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Twiga Foods’ CEO, Peter Njonjo, is taking a breather from the hustle.
His company is grappling with a hefty debt collection lawsuit from Incentro Africa, of over $200,000, but he is taking a six-month sabbatical amidst the court drama.
This is your sign to take that break from work if you need it.
Also, If you are a founder, please take this survey.
E-commerce
Jumia shuts down food delivery business across seven markets
Jumia has shut down its food delivery business to cut costs.
The African e-commerce company has decided to shut down its food delivery business, Jumia Food, across several African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Uganda, and Algeria by the end of December 2023.
Why? Jumia, facing a Q3 2023 loss of $19 million, has been reevaluating its business segments to navigate challenging market dynamics since Q4 2022, where the company made a full-year loss of $207 million and a Q4 loss of $49.2 million. Jumia CEO, Francis Dufay highlighted the food delivery sector’s tough unit economics and substantial losses, attributing the closure to increased competition and rising operational costs.
Over recent months, Jumia has implemented significant cost-saving measures, including a 20% reduction in its workforce (900 employees), relocation of 60% of top management from the United Arab Emirates to the respective African countries, and substantial cuts in advertising and marketing spending.
Despite Jumia Food contributing 11% to Jumia’s overall gross merchandise value, it has consistently operated at a loss in the 11 North, East, and West African countries where it operates. While the company initially shifted focus to small-ticket everyday items in 2021, Dufay has redirected efforts and expanded into smaller Nigerian cities.
Zoom out: The decision to shut down Jumia Food follows a trend, with the company previously discontinuing the service in Egypt, Ghana, and Senegal due to sub-scale operations and challenging economics.
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Funding
MAKA raises $2.6 million pre-seed
What I ordered vs what I got? MAKA has got you.
MAKA, an African fashion and beauty e-commerce platform, has raised a $2.65 million pre-seed. MAKA will use the funding to grow its workforce, streamline its operations, upgrade its technology, and strengthen its presence in Ghana and Nigeria
The funding round was led by 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital. Palm Drive Capital, angel investor Jonathan Shipman, founder of EVP and Twitch founding member, and executives from delivery platform Wolt also participated in the round.
TikTok but for fashion: Think of MAKA as an upgraded version of TikTok where you can buy and review clothes that fit your style. Diana Owusu-Kyereko, ex-CEO of Jumia Ghana, launched MAKA in 2021 as an interactive social commerce platform, that allows both creators and customers to discover products tailored to their styles through live try-on hauls, reviews, and user-generated content.
MAKA aims to solve the trust issue from buying clothes online—what I ordered vs what I got. To combat the trust barrier, MAKA leverages video testimonials from trusted creators. Seeing creators they admire recommend and demonstrate products firsthand builds trust and confidence for these users.
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Startups
CcHub gets new leader
Ojoma Ochai has been appointed Managing Director of Africa’s largest innovation centre, Co-creation Hub (CcHUB). Ochai takes the helm from Bosun Tijani, who now serves as Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy.
Who is Ojoma? Ojoma Ochai has over 20 years in the creative and technology sectors. She was previously the Managing Partner at the Creative Economy Practice of CcHUB. Ochai held key positions at the British Council including Regional Director of Arts and Creative Economy Programmes, Sub-Saharan Africa, Director of Arts, Nigeria, Director of Arts, West Africa, and Director of Programmes.
She was also a Board Member of BTrust—an organisation set up by Jay Z and Jack Dorsey to support blockchain development on the continent. She was an Entertainment Sector Specialist at the World Bank Growth and Employment Project.
She is also a member of the UNESCO Global Expert Panel on the 2005 Convention on Cultural Expressions where she has delivered projects in a range of locations around the world particularly in Africa and the Caribbean. Ochai is also co-founder of Pixel Ray Studios, a global film and audio-visual content infrastructure development company currently developing projects in Africa and the Caribbean.
Lights out: With almost 20 years of progressive experience in the creative and technology sectors, Ojoma Ochai takes over the helm at CcHUB which has been instrumental in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. CcHUB with roots in Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and Namibia launched in 2010, as a frontier for digital innovation in Nigeria.
How do Nigerians save and spend?
Did you know that 64% of Nigerians save a portion of their monthly income? Read PiggyVest’s first-ever savings report to see more about how Nigerians save and spend here.
Funding
Techstars and ARM Labs to invest $1.4 million in 12 African startups
Techstars, an African startup investor has partnered with ARM Labs, a Nigerian accelerator, in its second cohort for its Lagos-based accelerator programme.
The cohort comprises 12 startups from Ghana, East Africa and Nigeria, and has four teams with at least one female co-founder in each startup.
Funding and support: Each startup receives $120,000 in funding, along with valuable benefits like $400,000 in cash equivalent hosting, accounting, and legal support, with the comprehensive package, exceeding $5 million in total value. The selected startups will also receive lifetime access to the Techstars global network, company-building support, and mentorships.
Building upon the success of the first cohort, which focused on fintech and proptech, this edition embraces a wider range of industries, from logistics and e-commerce to healthtech and renewable energy.
Meet the cohort: 24Seven, Beauty Hut, Eight Medical, GetEquity, JumpnPass, One Plan, PBR Life Sciences, PressOne Africa, Rana, Surge Africa, Swoove, and Veend, are the 12 startups selected for the cohort.
The program will end in an invite-only Demo Day on February 15, 2024, where the 12 startups will showcase their progress to an audience of investors and industry leaders.
AI and Faith Summit
Join us for AI & Faith Summit 2023 on Dec 16! Explore the fusion of cutting-edge technology and timeless spirituality in this enlightening virtual event.
TC Insights
Funding tracker
This week, Maka, a Nigerian-based fashion and beauty e-commerce platform, raised a $2.65 million pre-seed round led by Pan-African venture capital firms 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital.
Here are other deals for the week:
- Nigerian startup Bujeti, an expense management and budgeting platform, raised $2 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by YCombinator and had support from backers such as Entrée Capital, Voltron Capital, UnpopularVC, Kima Ventures, Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi, Alan Rutledge, Tristan Walker, Heirloom VC, and Abdul “Tomiwa” Hassan.
Before you go, please participate in our pivotal survey exploring the impact of layoffs on African tech. It should only take at most three minutes of your time.
That’s it for this week!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. You can also visit DealFlow, our real-time funding tracker.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$43,167 |
+ 0.36% |
+ 21.14% |
| Ether |
$2,327 |
+ 2.79% |
+ 17.27% |
 BONK |
$0.00002089 |
+ 52.00% |
+ 895.83% |
| EGO |
$0.03616 |
– 10.43% |
+ 77.04% |
* Data as of 00:09 AM WAT, December 15, 2023.
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Job openings
- Deputy CTO @NEXT BASKET
- Brand Designer @Code for Africa
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- IT Manager @Creative Associates International
What else is happening in tech?
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