Nigerian group-buying startup Pricepally raises funding from GreenTec

Nigerian group-buying startup Pricepally has secured funding from German firm GreenTec Capital Partners as it looks to expand its operations outside of its Lagos base.

Disrupt Africa reported in February on Pricepally, which launched in November 2019 and is a group-buying platform that aggregates consumer food demand and matches it with supplies directly from farmers and wholesalers.

The startup’s aim is to cut out middlemen and save consumers money by leveraging technology to aggregate demand via a sharing model. Users log in to the website or apps to purchase foods outright or arrange shared purchases, with these items bought from wholesalers or farmers divided accordingly and then shipped to each customer or a group destination.

Principally has now secured an undisclosed amount of investment from the Frankfurt-based GreenTec Capital, which makes small investments in African tech startups but says its real value-add comes from its “company-building” model. The company has invested in a host of African startups, including Kenyan AI startup SuperFluid Labs, Nigerian logistics startup Parcel-it, Ivory Coast-based waste management startup Coliba, and, most recently, Ghanaian retail-tech startup Sumundi.

The startup has seen increased demand created by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and has ambitious plans to re-imagine the food system in Africa by connecting relevant stakeholders through their platform and building out the infrastructure to reach more Nigerians. Currently, Pricepally is available in the Lagos area, and offers one-to-two day delivery on orders, but it has plans to expand.

“At Pricepally we are excited about our collaboration with GreenTec Capital, we see this as a significant step in achieving our vision of a sustainable food system for urban African cities. We are very aware of the huge challenge ahead but we are also very confident in this partnership and we look forward to the future,” said Luther Lawoyin, the startup’s chief executive officer (CEO).

Maxime Bayen, senior company builder at GreenTec Capital Partners, said his company was thrilled to be supporting a team of “young, brilliant and gender-balanced co-founders” on such an important mission.

“At the origin of Pricepally was the deep desire from a group of people to allow households to access essential and quality food at more affordable price,” he said.P