MarketForce Wins 2022 Inclusive Fintech 50 (IF50)
MarketForce Wins 2022 Inclusive Fintech 50 (IF50)
Having come a long way from raising $2m pre-series to $40m series A, MarketForce is excited to announce that we are winners in this year’s Inclusive Fintech 50 (IF50). IF50, a reputable global innovation competition powered by the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) identifies and elevates cutting-edge emerging start-ups leveraging data and digital infrastructure to make products more inclusive and impactful for customers in underserved markets.
Co-founded in 2018 by Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, MarketForce enables informal merchants to source, order, and pay for inventory digitally & conveniently; access financing; collect digital payments and make extra money by reselling digital financial services such as airtime, electricity & water tokens, and bill payments via our super app, Rejareja.
Millions of small, independent shops are the cornerstone of African commerce. Although they may face challenges such as the expansion of modern retail and pandemic-related changes in consumer behavior, they are now diversifying, digitizing, and partnering with modern distribution networks to reach the next level.
Today, thousands of informal merchants use MarketForce’s B2B Commerce and Fintech marketplace, RejaReja, at any time via interactive mobile channels. They get their orders delivered directly to their store by the nearest distributor, within hours, every day. Rejareja has delivered over 500k orders to our merchants within 2 years, no surprise it’s regarded as the Retailers’ Haven.
With over 200,000 merchants and 100 consumer brands trading on Rejareja, Marketforce is on track to scale merchant inventory financing through a Buy Now Pay Later offering and avail more digital financial and banking services to our extensive merchant network.
“We are thrilled to have been selected as a 2022 IF50 Winner. A very big thank you to the entire IF50 team for recognizing MarketForce! We are looking forward to breaking new ground by driving financial inclusion and expanding the MarketForce impact on informal merchants, thereby contributing to achieving the vision of IF50.” says Tyler Karahalios, Global Head of Financial Services, MarketForce.
MarketForce will receive visibility through media partnerships, digital events, research, and insight work conducted by CFI. As part of CFI’s Financial Inclusion Week (October 17 – 20), we were able to participate as a panelist alongside another IF50 winner in a session entitled “Fintech at the Frontier of MSE Finance.”
We couldn’t be prouder of our win, and we are thankful to IF50 for choosing MarketForce. We are excited about this new support as we continue our journey to drive financial inclusion for informal merchants.
We can’t wait to see the positive impact and achievement we will have through this project!