The news:
- Market intelligence startup Rwazi has raised $4 million seed.
- The funding round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Newfund Capital and Alumni Ventures.
- The startup plans to use the funding to expand into more markets and launch new products.
Rwazi was launched in 2021 by Joseph Rutakangwa and Eric Sewankambo to provide brands and multinational companies with accurate market intelligence so that they don't enter emerging markets blindly.
According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Africans purchase 70% of their food, beverages, and personal care products from informal retail businesses such as small shops and kiosks.
This makes tracking data on consumer behaviour, and market size of products difficult.
Rwazi wants to solve this problem by allowing consumers to log in their purchases via a web or mobile app and receive compensation after their submissions have been verified.
Rutakangwa told TechCrunch that collecting unit data this way sets it apart from larger research firms, which make inferences based on sample information. It collects detailed information such as the number of products bought, the frequency of purchases, and the consumer's location.
The startup has 50,000 consumers that log their purchases and 18 multinational companies that track data on over 200 products. The products range from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) to telecoms and healthcare.
While Rwazi is present in 40 African countries, as well as in South Asia and Latin America, it plans to use its $4 million seed raise to expand and build more products.
"We are rolling out new products this year that support different languages because this has been a barrier to our growth in these regions." Rutakangwa told TechCrunch.
The seed funding round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Newfund Capital, and Alumni Ventures.
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