Kenyan social commerce startup Sukhiba Connect raises $1.55M seed extension round for expansion. Nearly a year after securing $1.5 million in seed funding to expand beyond the East African country.
EQ2 Ventures led the round, with additional investments from Accion Venture Lab, Musha Ventures, Quona Capital, and existing investor CRE Ventures.
Sukhiba Connect will use the funds to accelerate its expansion across Africa and other emerging markets.
Founded by Ananth Raj Gudipati and Abhinav Reddy in 2021, Sukhiba Connect is a conversational commerce and CRM platform built on WhatsApp. The platform focuses on emerging markets and helps medium and large enterprises enhance their sales and retention through WhatsApp.
The startup has developed a B2B conversational commerce tool that allows businesses to connect with and sell to customers via WhatsApp.
According to the Global Web Index’s 2020 Social Media User Trends Report, 97% of internet users in Kenya use WhatsApp monthly. As of January 2024, a survey found that WhatsApp and TikTok are the most frequently used social media platforms in Kenya.
Consequently, the conversational commerce and CRM platform leverages WhatsApp as the primary operating system and customises its services — such as sales, marketing, customer service, and payments — around the WhatsApp infrastructure.
For context, Sukhiba Connect enables sellers to manage orders, accept local payment methods like M-Pesa, send notifications, and group customers. Buyers can browse product catalogues, add or remove items from their carts, and complete purchases—all within WhatsApp.
According to the company, it scales effortlessly by integrating several payment providers and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, including SAP, ERPNext, Shopify, and WooCommerce.
Why the startup was founded
“SUKHIBA is designed to bridge the gap between brands, manufacturers, distributors, and their customers in emerging markets by leveraging the ubiquitous nature of WhatsApp.
“This seed extension marks a significant milestone for us, enabling us to scale our operations. And enhance our SaaS platform to better serve our growing customer base of manufacturers, distributors and D2C brands,” Gudipati says.
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Since its initial seed round in 2023, Sukhiba Connect asserts it has experienced significant growth. It now operates in eight markets across Africa and India. Collaborating with leading manufacturers, distributors, major retail chains, and direct-to-consumer brands.
Over 35,000 SMEs use the platform to purchase products and services through its merchant partners. In contrast, in 2023, the startup facilitated WhatsApp commerce for over 30 major companies, including leading manufacturers and distributors. These companies, in turn, serve nearly 15,000 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including retailers.
What’s more, Sukhiba Connect aims to become the top CRM and sales force automation tool in emerging markets, competing with social commerce players like Kapu and MarketForce’s Chpter.
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