Tupuca seeks financing to expand, develop a super app
Tupuca, an Angolan grocery and food delivery platform, is looking for capital to fund its expansion strategy beyond the Southern African country and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Tupuca, which was founded eight years ago, initially offered food delivery services in Luanda, Angola's capital.
In the last two years, it has expanded across Angola and launched in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), a key populous African country that is attracting rapid investment in tech, telecom, and fintech.
Tupuca's CEO and co-founder, Erickson Mvezi, told ITWeb Africa in an interview that the company is preparing for additional expansion and the development of a super mobile app.
"Tupuca is actively considering options for expansion and growth and we have indicated our openness to securing additional funding to facilitate the company's growth ambitions," Mvezi said in a recent interview with ITWeb Africa.
He went on to say, "The company is strategically repositioning itself for rapid growth over the next 18 months through the implementation of the all-in-one super app strategy."
Tupuca has previously received funding from angel investors and Seedstars, an early stage tech start-up lender.
The Angolan startup was among the finalists who pitched at the Multichoice Africa Accelerator programme earlier this year.
The Tupuca platform in Angola processes an average of 20,000 monthly orders, with a "steady growth rate of 5% month over month," according to Mvezi.
Furthermore, expansion into the Democratic Republic of the Congo has "shown a remarkable growth rate of 15%, resulting in an average of 4,000 monthly" orders.
Tupuca's growth into the DRC was prompted by strong demand in Angola, and according to Mvezi, and the most important lessons learnt foraying into the DRC have "been the impact of experience combined with a comfortable 9-month financial runway when venturing" into a new market.
This is a lesson that other African start-ups may learn from, he continued.
"To address these issues, Tupuca has invested in developing its own delivery fleet and optimising its logistics operations." Mvezi added that the organisation has also collaborated closely with payment service providers to give clients with secure and convenient payment choices.