Kenyan e-commerce startup Chpter has successfully raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round, a significant boost for the young company co-founded by former Marketforce founders. This new capital injection will help Chpter enhance its technology stack and expand its operations into Egypt and Nigeria, key markets in the African e-commerce landscape. Founded in 2022 by Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin, and Mark Kiarie, Chpter aims to transform how businesses utilize social media. Instead of just a marketing tool, the platform enables companies to turn social media channels like WhatsApp and Instagram into direct sales platforms by integrating chat, order, and payment tools. This approach has already attracted notable clients such as Britam, Kicks Kenya, and Phoneplace. The funding round was led by Pani, an Africa-focused investment firm co-founded by Ken Njoroge, former CEO of Cellulant. Other investors included Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, ViKtoria Ventures, and angel investors like Benjamin Fernandes (Nala founder and CEO) and Paul Kimani (Workpay co-founder). Chpter plans to leverage this funding to develop an end-to-end product that integrates APIs from social media with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and Woocommerce. This strategic investment in technology is expected to position Chpter as a key player in the rapidly growing conversational commerce sector, particularly in its target expansion markets. The startup has also benefited from participation in high-profile accelerator programs such as the Norrsken Accelerator and Safaricom Spark Accelerator, which have provided critical exposure and mentorship.
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