Kasha, an Africa-focused health-technology company, has raised more than US$21-million (R380-million) in a series-B funding round led by Cape Town’s Knife Capital.
Other participants in the funding round were FinnFund, DFC, Altree Capital, Tim Koogle and Pam Scott, Beyond Capital Ventures, Bamboo Capital’s Bloc Smart Africa Fund, Five35 Ventures, and other new and existing investors.
“With series-B funding, Kasha is scaling its operations into South and West Africa to be Africa’s leading digital health access platform,” Knife Capital said in a statement on Monday.
Kasha is a “digital retail and last-mile distribution platform for pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods serving consumers, resellers, pharmacies, hospitals and clinics”.
The company was founded in Rwanda in 2016 and is aimed mainly at women, who it said are the most influential segment for health products and household goods.
“In Africa, women are the decision makers on 80% of household purchases, and 60% of small shop owners are women,” it said.
Kasha recently started operating in South Africa after establishing a base in Rwanda and Kenya. It plans to open operations in West Africa later this year. It will also use the latest funding round to invest in its platform and offering enterprise services.
Expansion
“The exponential revenue growth we’ve experienced over the last several years was driven by the high market demand for quality, affordable health products and household goods from mass market customers in urban and rural areas of East Africa, and this has proven out our business model and our team’s ability to execute,” said Kasha founder and CEO Joanna Bichsel in the statement.
“We will be using the funds from series B to expand across Africa and invest in strategic areas of the business to further continue our high-growth trajectory,” Bichsel said.
“In the current economic climate, it is refreshing to come across such a high-growth capital efficient business that is female-led and optimised to serve the large mass market segment in Africa, being especially strong at serving women customers,” said Knife Capital founding partner Keet van Zyl. – © 2023 NewsCentral Media