Kenyan startup Revivo, a B2B marketplace for consumer electronic spare parts, has announced a US$635,000 pre-seed funding round to help it scale.
Founded in 2022 by Sarah Johnson, Revivo is an online marketplace for quality electronic spare parts, accessories, and repair tools, which aims to increase access to quality and affordable electronics repairs in emerging markets by addressing the needs of small businesses doing the vast majority of repairs.
Through its platform, the company makes it easy for repair shops to find the products and resources they need. Revivo offers transparent pricing, access to new product sources, guaranteed quality, learning materials, and embedded financing for their customers.
So far the startup has sold over 45,000 products to thousands of customers, and it is establishing partnerships with key original equipment manufacturers and e-waste recyclers. Its efforts have led to several grants, including one from Stanford’s TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, and now a US$635,000 pre-seed round backed by Raba Partnership, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Satgana and strategic business angels.
“Products like a smartphone or a solar home system can change lives. However, the reality is that these products remain unaffordable for many people and have damaging environmental impacts. By building a strong repair economy we can make the use of these devices more affordable while reducing their negative impact. I believe this is a huge opportunity, and the marketplace is just the beginning,” Johnson said.
Anil Maguru, partner at Satgana, said he was delighted to support Revivo in “pioneering the repair economy in Africa while empowering small shop owners”.
“From the beginning of our interaction with her, we knew that she was the kind of founder who was able to make a real difference in the green growth of the continent, as enabling electronics repairs is critical to extending devices lifespan, hence reducing carbon emissions and electronic waste, so as to foster green growth across the continent. We are looking forward to working alongside our fabulous co-investors to contribute to making Revivo a category-defining and mission-driven company,” he said.
