ZAMBIA – Lusaka Grocery Delivery, a Zambian grocery delivery startup has raised US$38.5k in pre-seed funding round to enable it to scale its services.
The funding round was led Amano Capital, a Lusaka-based investment firm which raises capital for Southern African tech startup companies.
Apart from investing, Amano offers active advisory services in incubation, mentoring and monitoring of startups as well as general brokerage services such as marketing, offering and aftermarket services.
Founded in April this year by Ngao Mutambo, a University of Liverpool graduate, Lusaka Grocery Delivery is an e-commerce delivery service created as a direct response to the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.
“Our vision was to help our fellow Zambians follow social distancing precautions, while still being able to get all the supplies they needed in the comfort of their homes.”
CEO & Founder Lusaka Grocery Delivery – Ngao Mutambo
It is operating in a market characterized by lack of adequate access to the internet and an understanding of how to use online applications.
While over 80% of Zambians have phones, only 14% actively use the internet while the remaining 70% do not understand how the internet works, reports Afrikan Heroes.
Determined to bridge this divide, the company has looked for alternate ways to build a loyal following while maintaining its brand purpose and is looking to break K100,000 (US$4,975) weekly sales by the end of the year.
“Lusaka Grocery is a company that was created to serve as a tool to ensure civilians were safe during the Global coronavirus outbreak.
“Our vision was to help our fellow Zambians follow social distancing precautions, while still being able to get all the supplies they needed in the comfort of their homes,” said Ngao.
The startup’s flagship product section is dubbed ‘Proudly Zambian’ and part of the offerings are products which tend not to be available in the local stores as they are being produced by smaller manufacturers.
The company will promote a section of exclusively Zambian traditional foods such as Chikanda, Chiwawa and dried fish to name a few and exciting feature looks to commercialise key elements of different Zambian traditional foods.
The Zambian remittance market is valued at nearly US$200 million dollars per year with 85% going towards family support.
Having noted this trend, LGD built its app for the purpose of ensuring members of the diaspora can safely purchase grocery supplies and ensure the money is spent appropriately.
Nearly 70% of all clientele is currently based in the diaspora and is vital to the company’s success.
“The strategy to drive up sales in the diaspora market to then trickle down into the domestic target market. This is what energized my team the most.
“Changing customers habits requires patience so utilising a customer base that are comfortable in using the online shopping market will be a strong factor to future scalability,” said Ngao.
Meanwhile, another women led Zambian startup, Sage Valley clinched a K250,000 (US$12,400) revolving working capital facility from the Empress Fund, managed by Africa Trust Group (ATG) based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Sage Valley a spices and pastes processing company was established in October 2019.
It has recently availed its products in a number of Shoprite stores thus the funds acquired will be channelled towards increasing their production capacity and meeting increased demand for their products.
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