Kasha, an Africa-focused health-technology company, has raised more than US$21-million (R380-million) in a series-B funding round led by Cape Town\u2019s Knife Capital.<\/p>\n
Other participants in the funding round were FinnFund, DFC, Altree Capital, Tim Koogle and Pam Scott, Beyond Capital Ventures, Bamboo Capital\u2019s Bloc Smart Africa Fund, Five35 Ventures, and other new and existing investors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith series-B funding, Kasha is scaling its operations into South and West Africa to be Africa\u2019s leading digital health access platform,\u201d Knife Capital said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n
Kasha is a \u201cdigital retail and last-mile distribution platform for pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods serving consumers, resellers, pharmacies, hospitals and clinics\u201d.<\/p>\n
The company was founded in Rwanda in 2016 and is aimed mainly at women, who it said are the most influential segment for health products and household goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Africa, women are the decision makers on 80% of household purchases, and 60% of small shop owners are women,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Kasha recently started operating in South Africa after establishing a base in Rwanda and Kenya. It plans to open operations in West Africa later this year. It will also use the latest funding round to invest in its platform and offering enterprise services.<\/p>\n
Expansion
\n\u201cThe exponential revenue growth we\u2019ve experienced over the last several years was driven by the high market demand for quality, affordable health products and household goods from mass market customers in urban and rural areas of East Africa, and this has proven out our business model and our team\u2019s ability to execute,\u201d said Kasha founder and CEO Joanna Bichsel in the statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be using the funds from series B to expand across Africa and invest in strategic areas of the business to further continue our high-growth trajectory,\u201d Bichsel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the current economic climate, it is refreshing to come across such a high-growth capital efficient business that is female-led and optimised to serve the large mass market segment in Africa, being especially strong at serving women customers,\u201d said Knife Capital founding partner Keet van Zyl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kasha, an Africa-focused health-technology company, has raised more than $21-million in a series-B funding round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":32161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,21],"tags":[7,26,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-32164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-technology","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-technology"},"yoast_head":"\n