Omnibiz, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce company, has secured a $15 million pre-Series A investment. The raise which is structured as a $5M equity and $10M debt investment deal will be utilised for regional expansion.
The investment was led by Timon Capital including participation from Ventures Platform, Lofty Inc, Chapel Hill Denham, Chandaria Capital, and Musha Ventures.
Founder of Omnibiz Deepankar Rustagi said,”The fund was raised to begin further regional expansion, starting this month.
Rustagi said the company wants to expand to second-tier cities in Nigeria like Ilorin, Asaba, and Akure, where retail is growing.”
He added that Omnibiz wants to become the primary B2B operating system for informal retailers in these cities by helping with last-mile delivery, procurement, working capital, inventory management, and operational tools for tracking sales, cost, prices, and profit.
Founded in June 2019 , the company unites neighbourhood retailers, distributors, third-party logistics partners, and FMCG manufacturers on a single platform while ensuring better ROI, volume growth, and reaching a wider audience through an effective distribution network.
The company is currently present in over 12 cities in Ghana and Nigeria. Omnibiz provides retailers with a fully integrated digital platform. Retailers can purchase and restock conveniently from over 200 product brands, such as Coca-Cola and Nestle, through the Omnibiz app.
Last August, the startup raised $3 million to aid expansion into new markets within the country. The platform, which offers a mobile app, a WhatsApp channel, and a phone number that retailers can use to stock their shops.
Omnibiz’s annual GMV of $130 million comes from these repeat retail customers. The company expects to increase the number of daily active retailers on its platform to 10,000 next year. It also projects a 4x revenue increase for these retailers who connect with over 200 brands delivered by a network of more than 70 logistics partners on Omnibiz’s platform.
Nikos Katsaounis, a partner at emerging markets VC Timon Capital, said his firm invested in Omnibiz because it believes the company is solving a much-needed problem. “The FMCG supply chain is fragmented, inefficient, and opaque. Omnibiz tackles all of these problems and addresses them with an efficient software layer that provides much-needed data on this otherwise obscure market and supply chain. Deepankar Rustagi is an excellent operating CEO.”