Nigeria’s ShopEX, a multi-channel retail business and exclusive distributor of some of the world’s most successful “As Seen On TV” products has raised a US$635,000 pre-seed funding round to continue growing its team, brand, and operations, and to expand into new markets.
Founded in 2018 by Isi Abebe, ShopEX is on a mission to bring teleshopping to the everyday life of Nigerians by creating direct-to-consumer live shopping experiences. The company mobilises a combination of traditional and digital channels to market, sell, and distribute some of the world’s most successful “As Seen On TV” brands.
“The launch of ShopEx perfectly coincides with rising e-commerce and maturing logistics and payment platforms across Africa. These are vital components for creating a truly omnichannel experience,” said Abebe. “We look forward to rolling out an exciting pipeline of new products and bolstering our technology to deliver an exceptional customer experience and expand our offering into other markets.”
The startup has just announced a US$635,000 pre-seed funding round, which includes US$400,000 from Cape Town-based venture capital firm HAVAÍC. Topping up capital from existing investors, the round takes ShopEX’s total raised funding to date to US$885,000.
ShopEx now aims to capture Africa’s fast-growing e-commerce market, and become the “QVC of Africa”, going beyond transactional e-commerce or traditional brick-and-mortar stores to create engaging live shopping experiences for customers. The funding round will enable ShopEx to continue growing its team, brand, product agreements, inventory, and operations into new markets, with Ghanaian expansion already underway.
“We are delighted to receive this funding from HAVAÍC, it’s a vote of confidence that gives us an extra boost in our journey to delivering Africa’s first truly omni-channel shopping experience across digital and traditional media,” said ShopEX country manager Olajumoke Kujero.
“With exciting initiatives like our soon to launch ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ scheme and the various ongoing retail and affiliate partnership conversations in the works, our customers can expect to get the absolute best value for money spent on the quality globally acclaimed products we have in our offering.”
Ian Lessem, managing partner at HAVAÍC, said ShopEx had the experience and network to take advantage of arguably one of the most untapped retail opportunities in Africa.
“What’s more, their scalable technology means ShopEx can leverage off social media and key partnerships with the likes of Multichoice, Jumia, and Alibaba to spearhead the growth of multi-channel shopping in the market,” he said.
