Norrsken22-Backed Nigerian Startup Plans $125 Million Round

(Bloomberg) -- A Nigerian startup that connects informal traders with suppliers more than doubled the amount of funds it plans to raise this year after it breezed through its financial targets.

Sabi is seeking $125 million in a Series B funding round planned to start in September, its co-founder, Ademola Adesina, said in an interview on Friday. The firm, which also operates in Kenya, plans to open in South Africa this month, having already hired staff. It is also setting up a finance vehicle to help its clients raise money for expansion, he said.

Investors, including Softbank Group Corp. and founders of Swedish unicorns, are rushing to Africa to fund startups benefiting from connecting and helping finance businesses on the continent. Sabi, which raised $6 million in an initial funding round and has since tapped existing and new shareholders for additional finance, has seen its growth rate surge, according to Adesina. 

Its shareholders include Norrsken22, a fund backed by Swedish tech founders and chief executive officers, Fintech Collective Inc. and CRE Venture Capital.

The company, founded in late 2020, saw $100 million of transactions on its platform in its first year of operation and is now running at an annualized rate of $350 million, Adesina said. Its ability to expand is based on the fact that it runs a platform and has few physical assets, he said.

“We are asset light, we do not own vehicles or warehouses,” Adesina said. “We are a platform for owners of all of those. We are a platform for all of those middlemen.”

The company has widened its initial focus on fast moving consumer goods to other products, including chemicals, agricultural products and electronic goods

Sabi, founded by Adesina and Anu Adasolum, who serves as CEO, aims to operate in what it estimates is an $800 billion informal trade market in sub-Saharan Africa. 

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