FUNDING | Kenya’s AI-Driven E-Commerce Startup, Chpter, Raises $1.2 Million to Optimize E-Commerce on Social Media Platforms

Chpter, an e-commerce company from Kenya, has raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round to enhance its business operations.

According to Chpter, ‘social commerce,’ a kind of e-commerce taking place over social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and soon TikTok, has grown over the years in emerging markets and accounts for the majority of e-commerce activity on the continent.

However social networks, as they exist today, aren’t built to support end-to-end online shopping experiences, leading to e-commerce businesses losing up to 40% of their revenue to abandoned carts, Chpter claims.

Founded by Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin, Mark Kiarie, and Tesh Mbaabu in 2022, the startup seeks to provide solutions and tools to optimize end-to-end online shopping experiences using social networks. Chpter offers an AI-powered conversational commerce platform which enables merchants to sell more on social platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram by automating conversations, marketing and payments all in one place.

“We are thrilled to pioneer the social commerce revolution, starting in Africa, as more and more consumers turn to social channels such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to communicate and purchase from the brands they love,” said CEO and Co-Founder, Tesh Mbaabu, who formerly ran MarketForce.

“A WhatsApp-led e-commerce experience makes it more inclusive and accessible to the underserved mass market, due to its low data and digital literacy requirements as well as the over 95% usage rate in many emerging markets,” said Mark Kiarie, Co-Founder and COO at Chpter.

 Chpter Product Mockup — Web and Mobile

According to Chpter, the round was led by Ken Njoroge of PANI, also Cofounder & Former CEO of Cellulant, with participation from:

• Plesion Capital
• Techstars
• Norrsken
• Renew Capital
• ViKtoria Ventures

and angel investors including:

• NALA Founder and CEO, Benjamin Fernandes, and
• WorkPay Co-Founders, Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo

“At Pani we’re always on the look out for founder teams with incredible grit- they embody the relentless passion and fight needed to build in Africa. When we find such founders, we walk with them & invest in them,” Ken Njoroge said.

The company will use the funds to accelerate their product development and sales/marketing efforts.

Chpter is already live in Kenya and South Africa, powering hundreds of businesses across e-commerce & retail, financial services, education, media & entertainment, travel & hospitality, health and wellness.

The company is also looking to avail the service in at least 5 more markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Morocco.