Goodwell invests in OmniRetail, fuelling better opportunities for informal retailers

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 16 April 2024 – Goodwell Investments, an impact investor focused on innovative businesses in emerging markets, is pleased to announce its recent investment in OmniRetail – a B2B e-commerce platform digitising sub-Saharan Africa’s informal supply chain. Working in collaboration with long-term partner Alitheia Capital, Goodwell invested via its uMunthu II fund, effectively kickstarting OmniRetail’s Series A fundraising round. The firm is proud to be the first to commit, underscoring its desire to support the growth of companies driving financial inclusion in underserved communities.  

Founded in 2019, OmniRetail provides the necessary digital infrastructure to tackle some of the most pressing challenges within Africa’s commerce value chain, particularly by addressing the needs of informal retailers. This often-overlooked group constitutes the backbone of commerce across sub-Saharan Africa, contributing significantly to the region’s GDP and providing livelihoods to millions of individuals. Despite their economic importance, these small businesses grapple with uncoordinated supply chains and fragmented distribution networks, hindering their growth and economic stability. 

Archit Bagaria, Head of Investments at OmniRetail, encapsulated the company’s mission, saying, “Africa deserves a robust digital infrastructure layered on top of the existing informal retail – the impact of which cannot be overstated. As the largest employer and the only ecosystem that can truly ensure efficient distribution of essential goods, healthcare, and financial inclusion – informal retail plays a very important role in the economies we want to transform. With support from Goodwell, one of the top impact funds focused on the continent, we are just getting started on our journey of a true digital infrastructure play that will impact and transform retail in Africa!” 

Through its flagship platform, Omnibiz, and innovative tools like OmniPay and Mplify, OmniRetail equips retailers with essential resources and tools to procure products, build and access credit, and optimize their business for higher profitability and scale. With over 140,000 small retailers and 90 brands onboarded, the company is well-positioned to redefine the retail industry in the region. 

With social impact at the core of its business model, OmniRetail is an ideal addition to Goodwell and Altitheia’s uMunthu II investment portfolio, which is dedicated to supporting local businesses providing essential goods and services to underserved populations. Reflecting on the company’s potential for delivering positive impact, Oti Ilentamhen, Investment Principal at Alitheia commented, “With a strong focus on empowering underrepresented entrepreneurs, particularly women who make up 78% of its customer base, OmniRetail exemplifies the potential for technology-driven solutions to drive positive change in underserved communities. As the company continues to expand its reach and impact, encompassing distribution, logistics and financial services, it sets a compelling example for the broader investment community, showcasing the immense value of supporting businesses that prioritise both financial success and social responsibility.” 

As OmniRetail continues its journey to modernise informal retail across West Africa, this investment will fuel the company’s expansion plans. In addition to strengthening its presence in Nigeria, OmniRetail has extended and is scaling its digital offerings to Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, with the aim of doubling in size by the end of 2024. Goodwell looks forward to partnering with OmniRetail throughout this exciting growth phase, supporting its vision to enable retailers and communities to thrive in the digital age. 

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For additional information and interview requests, please contact: 

Liz Keel, Marketing Communications Manager at Goodwell 
liz@goodwell.nl  

About Goodwell Investments  

Goodwell Investments is a pioneering impact investment firm focused on inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods and services and income generation opportunities to underserved communities in Africa and India. The firm provides early-stage equity to high growth, high impact businesses. With teams in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the Netherlands and a track record of over fifteen years, Goodwell demonstrates the ability to simultaneously deliver significant social impact and strong financial returns. Since 2009, Goodwell has partnered with Alitheia Capital to identify and manage investments in West Africa, including uMunthu II – Goodwell’s latest EUR 150 million fund.  

Learn more at www.goodwell.nl 

About OmniRetail 

Omniretail is a B2B Enablement and even more importantly a digital infrastructure play in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company is looking to setup the digital rails for an unparalleled trade ecosystem – an ecosystem that is physically powerful already and needs widespread digitization, intelligence and financial inclusion. Their model has a laser focus on supply-side customers (long term brand partnerships through joint business plans, enabling warehousing through distributor partners, and securing logistics by enabling regional logistics partners and asset finance).  

On the other side, crowdsourcing retail data from their captive retailer audience helps them create value-added services and products for them in a more efficient way (be it insights, lending or private label products). All of this helps to create the intelligence infrastructure to be able to visualize end-to-end trade in the ecosystem and truly enable economies to produce, sell, distribute and finance better.  

Learn more at https://www.omniretail.africa/