Firm Secures Seed Financing to Boost Food Supply Chain in Africa
Easyshop Easycook, a Nigeria-based online fresh food processor and grocer, targeting working professionals and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has announced its seed financing led by EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund. Easyshop Easycook said it will put the funds towards optimising its online platform and existing farm-to-last-mile supply chain.
The company offers a convenient grocery shopping experience by providing a multiplatform technology solution to suit both customers and partners by delivering fresh food sourced from farms, non-perishables, office supplies and household items to homes, offices, schools, hospitals, hotels and restaurants, among others, across Lagos.
Food items can be easily prepared and customised to suit customer needs – some popular options include: grating, cutting, peeling, and grinding, among others. Announcing the seed financing, the Founder and CEO of the firm, Saudat Salami, said: “Our vision is to optimise the fresh food supply chain by empowering the various participants and delivering repeatable value.
“Despite significant demand on the customer end, we realised that friction was causing massive amounts of waste and fraud in our food supply and it is incredibly important to us that we offer a streamlined pipeline to local farming communities while providing them the opportunity to generate greater income by optimising and increasing the supply of quality food ingredients to business and retail customers.”
Also, Senior Manager at EchoVC, Olaide Olusoji-Oke said: “We are incredibly excited to back Salami and her team. We have been tracking her progress over the last few years and have been consistently impressed by her ability to build trust across the entire supply chain. Her understanding of the business is unrivalled and her unique insights into behaviours in the offline market exhibited by farmers, traders and consumers are invaluable. We believe she represents the type of elite entrepreneur we love to support.”
Another manager at EchoVC, Fisayo Durojaye, said: “We are thrilled by the broad impact of Easyshop Easycook on families, businesses, farmers and food safety standards across Nigeria and very pleased to welcome Salami and the Easyshop Easycook team to the EchoVC portfolio.”
Easyshop Easycook has become a leading high-impact initiative in food safety standards. According to data from local industry experts, more than 200,000 persons die annually of food poisoning in Nigeria. These deaths were caused by foods contaminated through improper processing, preservation and service.
By improving various elements of the supply chain, Easyshop Easycook is positioned to drive food safety solutions, which should also support Nigeria’s food export initiatives.
EchoVC Partners is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm financing and cross-pollinating leading Africafocused technology companies. EchoVC brings a disruptive approach to investing at the technology-enabled intersection of consumer, media, data and devices in sub-Saharan Africa.