Kenyan retail B2B and end-to-end distribution platform MarketForce has successfully secured $40 million in Series A funding. The recent funding round brings MarketForce’s total funds raised to $42.5 million. V8 Capital Partners led the round, along with participation from organizations including SOSV’s Orbit Startups.

MarketForce was launched in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda in 2021 after growing beyond Kenya and Nigeria. The funding will be used for merchant inventory financing and expansion across Africa, allowing MarketForce to introduce buy now, pay later (BNPL) options and enter new markets in East and West Africa.

MarketForce, which was launched in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda in 2021 after growing beyond Kenya and Nigeria, also plans to enter additional markets in East and West Africa.

MarketForce’s flagship product is the merchant super app RejaReja, which empowers informal traders to source goods directly from manufacturers and distributors, digitally make and pay for orders, accept utility bill payments, and access business loans.

“The goal of RejaReja is to be the super app of the informal market. We’d like the merchants to have one access point for all the different financial and digital services they need to grow in the digital age,” MarektForce CEO and co-founder Tesh Mbaabu told TechCrunch in an interview.

MarketForce has ambitious plans for growth, intending to increase the number of merchants using the RejaReja app to 250,000 in the coming months. Looking ahead, MarketForce aims to digitize the estimated 100 million small traders across sub-Saharan Africa. The company expects the number of merchants using RejaReja to reach 1 million by the end of 2022. This expansion will open up new markets for FMCG brands, creating additional distribution opportunities.