ShopZetu, the fashion technology start-up founded by Marvin Kiragu and Vivo’s Wandia Gichuru, has closed its $1 million Pre-Seed funding round led by Chui Ventures.
Launch Africa, Roselake Ventures, Logos Ventures, and angel investors, including Kendall Tang (CEO, RT Knits), Ben Munoz (Co-Founder and CEO, Nadine West), Sumit Bhasin (SVP Global Innovation and Product Development, Estee Lauder Inc), Patricia Ithau (CEO, WPP Scangroup) and Peter Njonjo (Co-Founder and CEO, Twiga Foods) participated in the round.
“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.”
With the raise, ShopZetu plans to scale customer acquisition in Kenya, expand its vendor base to 1,000 brands, venture into the beauty and home décor categories, and explore partnerships with international fashion brands seeking local distribution without needing physical stores. Additionally, the company intends to pilot regional delivery services in Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
Founded in 2021, ShopZetu provides a marketplace to connect fashion vendors to customers across the continent and as well offers a suite of tools enabling online fashion retail, including digital advertising, content creation, logistics, warehousing, and last-mile fulfillment.
The firm aims to establish itself as Africa’s most prominent fashion and lifestyle e-commerce company. Africa’s fashion retail industry is massively fragmented, with numerous small brands and fashion vendors serving customers offline in stalls and through social media platforms.
Over the past 2+ years, ShopZetu has experienced remarkable traction, achieving over 400% increase in monthly orders since January 2021. ShopZetu has served over 30,000 customers and sold more than 100,000 products. The platform currently hosts over 300 vendors offering a diverse range of over 20,000 products. The Company’s commitment to innovation and customer-centricity is further highlighted by its recent collaboration with Safaricom to list on the M-Pesa super-app, expanding accessibility and convenience for its users.
Joyce-Ann Wainaina, Managing Partner of Chui Ventures, stated, “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.”
ShopZetu joined the prestigious Endeavor network in January 2023, solidifying its position among global impactful firms.