New York-based company, Global Shop Group, acquires Ivory Coast’s ANKA, an Ivorian e-commerce startup that raised over $13 million from investors like the International Finance Corporation.
“I recently acquired ANKA… because I deeply believe in what this platform represents: a powerful movement that has connected African and diaspora creators to customers all over the world,” Matilda Ceesay, Global Shop’s CEO, said in a mail sent to customers and seen by TechCabal.
Ceesay told customers that she acquired ANKA to “make it stronger and more supportive than ever” as part of her plans to help African sellers attract more customers, streamline operations, and showcase their work to the world, according to the mail seen by TechCabal.
ANKA’s infrastructure—payments, logistics, and storefronts tailored for African sellers—will likely serve as the operational backbone for this ambition.
By combining its global ambition with the operational sophistication of ANKA, Global Shop is positioning itself as a company capable of powering and scaling brands that resonate deeply with global Black and African diaspora communities.
The acquisition comes over a year after ANKA rebranded from Afrikrea, its flagship marketplace that connected thousands of African sellers to buyers in over 170 markets.
Afrikrea hit 1 million monthly visits and processed over $40 million, and since rebranding to ANKA, it added $20 million more and grew its revenue to $4.1 million in 2024.
After its rebrand, the startup pivoted to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that combines a marketplace, a payment system, and logistics services, allowing it to quadruple its payment volume and reach breakeven, Moulaye Taboure, ANKA’s co-founder, told TechCabal.
While ANKA’s employees and operations will remain intact, the startup founders—Luc B. Perussault Diallo, Moulaye Taboure, and Kadry Diallo—have exited and will be replaced by Matilda Ceesay.
“While I am formally stepping into the role once held by Moulaye and Kadry, they will always remain an important part of the ANKA family,” Ceesay said. “I deeply value their wisdom, knowledge, and past learnings, and will continue to draw from those lessons as we build the groundwork for ANKA’s future.”
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Founded in 2016, ANKA was once hailed as a rising player in Francophone Africa’s startup ecosystem, as it set out to remove the barriers for African SMEs and designers to export their products and scale globally by solving payment, logistics, storefront, and marketplace challenges.
In its current iteration, ANKA provides an integrated SaaS marketplace platform enabling African sellers to sell online, be paid internationally, and ship globally with lower friction.
“Global Shop’s strategy and its team’s deep experience in fashion and strategy, along with its extensive global network, are exactly what was missing to take ANKA to the next level,” said Taboure.
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