ShopZetu Raises Sh140.8M to Invest in Local Fashion Industry

A total of Sh140.8 million ($1 million) has been raised by ShopZetu, a startup in fashion technology that it plans to invest in Kenya’s fashion sector.

Launch Africa, Roselake Ventures, Logos Ventures, and angel investors including Kendall Tang (CEO, RT Knits), Ben Munoz (Co-Founder and CEO, Nadine West), and Chui Ventures all contributed to the pre-seed fundraising.

Others were Peter Njonjo, co-founder and CEO of Twiga Foods, Patricia Ithau, CEO of WPP Scangroup, and Sumit Bhasin, SVP Global Innovation and Product Development, Estee Lauder Inc.

The funds will be used to scale client acquisition in Kenya, increase the number of vendors to 1,000, enter the home décor and beauty markets, and consider joint ventures with global fashion companies looking for local distribution without the need for physical stores.

The company also plans to pilot regional delivery services in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

“We are excited to be leading the charge in online fashion and lifestyle retail,” said Marvin Kiragu, CEO of ShopZetu.

“The future of e-commerce in Africa will be driven by content, community, and hyper-personalization through recent advances in artificial intelligence.”

ShopZetu, a company founded in 2021 by Kiragu and Wandia Gichuru, aims to transform the African fashion and lifestyle e-commerce sectors.

The retail fashion market in Africa is incredibly fragmented, with a large number of small businesses and fashion vendors catering to consumers both offline at market stalls and online through social media platforms.

Through a centralised e-commerce marketplace, content production, digital marketing, warehousing, and last-mile delivery, ShopZetu offers a platform to facilitate online fashion retail for different vendors.

Over 100,000 products have been sold and over 30,000 consumers have been assisted by ShopZetu.

Presently, the site is home to over 300 vendors selling over 20,000 different products.

“We believe in ShopZetu’s vision to transform Africa’s fashion e-commerce landscape. The team’s commitment to building a scalable marketplace, coupled with their impressive traction, positions ShopZetu as a game-changer in the industry. We are excited to support their growth and contribute to their success,” Joyce-Ann Wainaina, Managing Partner of Chui Ventures, stated.