#BusinessNews: Video and Social Commerce Platform Rabawa Raises $163,000 for Expansion

Nigerian social and video commerce platform Rabawa has raised US$163,000 in funding from US-based VC firm Aptive Capital to help it scale its operations.

RABAWA was launched this year and offers resellers the opportunity to leverage social media for curating, promoting, and selling products from Manufacturers / Distributors to end-users.

The platform gives resellers access to a virtual shop and thousands of products from trusted suppliers.

Through the use of social and video commerce, heavily discounted prices, and a streamlined logistics chain, Rabawa provides the lowest prices to online shoppers in the continent.

It gives African housewives, students, youths, and aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to quickly and easily launch their online businesses with ZERO capital investment or inventory.

The platform connects resellers and business owners to top manufacturers and wholesalers across Africa, Asia, the USA, and the UK.

Over 5,000 resellers and 1,000 suppliers are currently registered on the platform.

According to the Chief Operating Officer of Rabawa, Olayinka Akinkunmi, “the pace at which Rabawa has grown within one month in Nigeria, we will be able to deploy social and video commerce to other African markets”.

She further notes that in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal, Rabawa hopes to empower at least 1 million unemployed or underemployed Africans by the year 2023 with their own businesses.

Since the fund commenced, Aptive Capital has invested in about 8 Startups with Rabawa being the 7th and biggest ticket size ($163,000) disbursed so far” he stated.

“At Aptive, we are out to identify talents and business models that work and then we invest. We are very impressed with Rabawa’s deep knowledge of the market and their planned approach to solve the challenges of unemployment, poor product availability, high cost of logistics, access to market issues, and poverty across Africa.’’  Paul Brandon Gilpin, Managing partner of Aptive Capital, said.

Aptive Capital’s portfolio investments include startups like One Kiosk, Skyfire Digital, MimiMoney, Emmnoch Farms, Statesman, and Slabdeck who have received between $10,000 and $50,000 from the funds.