Kenyan AI-powered social commerce platform Chpter has successfully raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round, marking a significant milestone in its mission to revolutionize social commerce across Africa. The funding round was led by Ken Njoroge, co-founder and former CEO of Cellulant, through his investment firm PANI, with participation from several prominent investors, including Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, ViKtoria Ventures, and notable angel investors such as Benjamin Fernandes, founder and CEO of NALA, and Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo, co-founders of Workpay.

Expanding Social Commerce Across Sub-Saharan Africa

Chpter, founded in 2021 by Mark Kiarie and Kuria Kevin, has positioned itself as a key player in the rapidly growing social commerce sector, leveraging AI to help businesses streamline their operations on platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram. The platform allows merchants to automate conversations, marketing, and payment processes, thereby enhancing their ability to connect with customers and drive sales.

With the fresh capital injection, Chpter is poised to accelerate the development of its conversational commerce technology and expand its reach to new markets across Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Morocco. This strategic expansion aims to tap into the region's burgeoning e-commerce market, which is expected to reach $75 billion by 2025, with social commerce playing a pivotal role in this growth.

The Evolution of Chpter: A Response to Market Needs

The inception of Chpter was driven by the need to address inefficiencies in the transactional processes on social platforms. While social commerce has effectively integrated content sharing, messaging, and selling, many aspects of the buying journey—such as product discovery, selection, and payment—remain cumbersome and prone to inefficiencies. Recognizing this gap, Chpter's founders partnered with Mesongo Sibuti and Tesh Mbaabu, co-founders of MarketForce, to build a more robust solution. Sibuti and Mbaabu, who previously launched the B2B e-commerce platform RejaReja, shifted their focus to Chpter following challenges with sustainability and profitability in their earlier venture.

Since its launch in 2022, Chpter has gained traction in Kenya and South Africa, supporting a diverse range of businesses across sectors such as e-commerce, retail, financial services, education, media and entertainment, travel and hospitality, and health and wellness. Notable clients include Britam, East Africa’s largest insurance company; Decathlon, a global sporting goods retailer; and Dovey Pharma, a leading pharmacy chain in Kenya.

Leveraging Strategic Partnerships and Advanced Technology

Chpter’s growth trajectory has been further bolstered by its recent designation as an official Meta Business Partner. This partnership enables Chpter to offer advanced features globally, such as setting up product catalogs for seamless checkout on WhatsApp, running targeted marketing campaigns on Meta platforms, and providing innovative solutions that enhance customer engagement and automation on WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. Additionally, the introduction of Chpter.AI empowers businesses to deploy chatbots and AI-driven customer service agents, ensuring faster responses to inquiries and minimizing lost sales opportunities.

Chpter’s ability to adapt to the unique challenges of the African market has been a key factor in its success. As Ken Njoroge, Managing Partner at PANI, emphasized, the firm’s investment in Chpter reflects a belief in the resilience and innovative capacity of African entrepreneurs. Plesion Capital’s General Partner, Ben Finlay, echoed this sentiment, highlighting Chpter’s potential for pan-African success due to its cutting-edge technology and strong leadership team.

Chpter’s recent funding round marks a significant step forward in its journey to redefine social commerce in Africa. By addressing the inefficiencies that have long plagued transactional processes on social platforms, Chpter is not only enhancing the shopping experience for consumers but also enabling businesses to capitalize on the growing e-commerce market. With plans to expand into additional markets in the coming months, Chpter is well-positioned to become a leading force in the African social commerce landscape, driving innovation and growth across the continent.