Turning problems into opportunities: SaaS startup Rwazi raises $4 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures
Rwazi, a Los Angeles-based startup with subscribers seeking to better understand consumers in emerging markets, has raised a $4 million seed stage round led by Bonfire Ventures and also including backing from Newfund Capital and Alumni Ventures.
The SaaS firm plans to use the investment to build on its growth last year, focusing on its penetration in Africa, South Asia, and LATAM.
“More than 90% of retail transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa’s $2 trillion economy are cash-based, which has historically made it hard for big brands to understand more than a billion African consumers, until Rwazi,” says Cofounder and CEO Joseph Rutakangwa. “We’ve turned that problem into an opportunity.”
“We’ve already built a network of 50,000 local consumers across Africa who provide our paying subscribers, including Fortune 500 global brands, with unparalleled insight into who’s buying what, for how much, from where, when and why,” he adds.
“Now, we’re announcing today that with our new funds, we’ll be further scaling our reach across Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America. And we’re looking for talent to help us.”
Rwazi provides insight across industries, ranging from consumer goods and healthcare to telecommunications and financial services.
It crowdsources data collection through its app, using on the ground local consumers (or mappers) who receive compensation for each verified purchase when they share the products they buy, for how much, from where, when and why.
In return for their information, including micro-geographic and micro-demographic data, global brands get on-ground actionable intelligence they access via Rwazi’s customer dashboard. There, customers can visualise, graphically or geospatially the data global brands want most.
Rwazi graduated from the Techstars Los Angeles accelerator programme in June 2022.
Bonfire Ventures Principal Jennifer Richard says: “I met the founders of Rwazi and was instantly impressed by their intellect, curiosity, and vision for the future of data visibility in emerging markets.”
“By the time we wrote the term sheet four months later, they had more than tripled revenue with a team of five and no capital raised.”
“Needless to say, we are honoured to support them as partners, and we're bullish on Rwazi’s ability to execute on a logistically challenging operation in a vast market.”
Continue reading…