E-commerce startup Chpter secures 155 million Kenyan shillings pre-seed funding

Kenyan e-commerce startup Chpter announced on Monday that it has raised $1.2 million (155 million Kenyan shillings) in a pre-seed round.

Chpter was founded by Mesongo Sibuti (CTO), Kuria Kevin (CPO), Mark Kiarie (COO) and Tesha Mbaabu (CEO) in 2022.

The software technology startup offers merchants an AI-powered commerce platform that allows them to increase sales on social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram by automating conversations, marketing, and payments.

The funding round was led by PANI’s Ken Njoroge (also co-founder and former CEO of Cellulant) with participation from Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, and ViKtoria Ventures.

Several angel investors also invested in the pre-series round, including NALA founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes, as well as Workpay co-founders Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo.

Chpter currently operates in Kenya and South Africa, and its clients include an insurance company Britam, sporting goods retailer Decathlon, pharmacy chain Dovey Pharma and online sports shoe store Kicks Kenya, among others.

Using the company’s platform involves a monthly subscription fee, and Chpter charges a commission on transactions made using the tool.

With the new funding, Chpter plans to expand its operations to at least five more African markets in the coming months, including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Morocco.

The investment will also be used to accelerate the development of its conversational commerce product offering and strengthen its sales and marketing efforts, the company added.

Mbaabu and Sibuti are co-founders of another Y Combinator-backed e-commerce venture MarketForce launched in 2018, though the two ventures operate independently.