Four former Jumia Kenya executives are part of the founding team at Kapu, a newly launched ecommerce platform. They include former CEO Sam Chappatte and former chief operations officer Cyrus Onyiego who have similar roles at Kapu.
Others are former Jumia chief marketing officer Meera Dhanani and head of offline sales Stanislas Barth, who will work as head of marketing and head of supply respectively at Kapu. The startup has raised Ksh981 million from undisclosed international investors.
Kapu features an agent-led distribution network, allowing users to place orders on its online platform and receive the goods at agents close to them. At the moment, its platform allows buyers to access common groceries such as tomatoes and garlic as well as food, home care and personal care products ranging from flour to sugar and diapers.
The team has been piloting Kapu in 2022 and claims to have already signed up 1,500 local businesses as agents, with over 1 million orders placed. According to Kapu, agents earn between Ksh2000 and Ksh6000 a month in commissions.
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Buyers, sellers and agents can sign up for the service on Kapu’s digital platform.
“Our goal at Kapu is to build the most relevant model of e-commerce for the majority of urban consumers in Africa. By working with existing community groups and local entrepreneurs, we believe we can play a part in reducing the cost of goods and unlocking opportunities for millions of people,” Chappatte explained.
Orders placed on Kapu before 9pm are delivered the next day to a local agent for free, and payment is made on delivery. Orders placed later than the stipulated time are delivered on the third day.
The agent model is intended to make logistics and distribution more efficient and cost-effective. The company has set up a physical store at Omega Warehouses in Nairobi’s Baba Dogo area.
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