While some businesses were affected by the Covid lockdown of 2020 and are still struggling to reestablish brand presence, the construction industry in Kenya has enjoyed steady growth. This industry has expanded globally since covid.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the industry is projected to still grow at an average rate of 6.1% over the next three years.
Kenya’s government has been introspective in planning mega projects to increase economic growth. The increase in the demand for housing and real estate deals has also contributed to the growth of the economy.
However, while the country continues to enjoy relatively steady growth, there seems to be a problem in the construction sector. It still lags behind in terms of a refined model of operation. It still operates traditionally, with nearly all supplies and even resellers being purchased physically.
Jumba, a B2B construction technology platform launched in April this year. It is dedicated to bridging this gap by providing an online platform that simplifies B2B purchase and financing of construction materials. They do this by allowing resellers of construction materials to seamlessly restock and make sales.
How The Pre-Seed Funding Went Down
Jumba has secured a $1 million pre-seed funding to kickstart the revamping of its technology. It also plans to facilitate the expansion of the brand across markets in major cities in Kenya.
Enza Capital led the pre-seed round. Other participants were Future Africa, Seedstars International Ventures, Logos Ventures, Chandaria Capital, First Check Africa, and several other angel investors.
According to Enza Capital’s managing partner, Mike Mompi “Africa’s populations are rapidly growing and increasingly urbanizing. The construction industry is a core economic engine supporting and sustainable growth Across Africa. In a $10 trillion industry yet to be reshaped by technology, we are thrilled to be backing Kagure and the exceptional team-building Jumba.”
What Insipred Jumba in Kenya
Wamunyu said her experience in real estate inspired Jumba. She said fluctuating prices and difficulty in accessing quality stock materials made buying building supplies hard. As a civil engineer and contractor, she always faced inefficiencies when purchasing building supplies. She then co-founded the startup with Miano Njoka (CTO).
Jumba connects manufacturers with retailers. They also ensure that small hardware stores which don’t have sufficient storage are connected to medium-sized ones near their regions. As a result, small stores can easily update their inventories. Furthermore, Jumba seeks to engage and onboard manufacturers and hardware stores outside Nairobi to grow its pool of suppliers and resellers.
“We will partner with different retailers in different neighborhoods who then can support the smaller ones, as opposed to working with a warehouse model. We will be supplying these big players and the smaller hardware stores will be picking their stock from these locations.
“Also, we have started to expand our products according to regional demands and the needs of hardware stores. The idea is to make Jumba the source of all construction materials in Kenya. When we eventually grow, beyond its borders,” she said.
What More Does Jumba Intend do
Jumba will also allow resellers to pay for orders on delivery and they intend to introduce the buy-now-pay-later option (BNPL).
“BNPL can be used to help resellers stock more, and it is a product that will be introduced but it will be built on the back of the reseller’s order history,” said Wamunyu.
Jumba is also set to bring on the best talent on board to spearhead strategies and has hired Peace Osangir. She is to lead the startup’s finance and risk component as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Osangir previously worked as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of a payments company, Kopo Kopo, a payment company. She was also the financial manager of Kenya’s first mobile lender, Mshwari, backed by East Africa’s biggest telecom Safaricom and regional bank NCBA.
Wamunyu has previously worked on a team that propelled Kobo360 and also helped Uber roll out its services in Kenya. Njoka, her co-founder, is a software engineer who had previously co-invested with her in real estate projects.
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Interesting read