Meet Tyler Karahalios: MarketForce’s New Head of Special Projects and Merchant Banking

MarketForce is pleased to announce the appointment of Tyler Karahalios as the Head of Special Projects and Merchant Banking. In her role, she will be focusing on driving high-impact, cross-functional projects, leading the company’s innovation and incubation centre, and developing financial services for our merchant network. She will also be focusing on building systems for expansion and scalability, as well as launching financial services like buy now, pay later, asset financing, and payments for MarketForce’s network of 200K+ merchants.

Tyler’s experience blends together a symphony between globally acceptable standards in operations and the humanity that makes teams thrive in challenging high stakes environments that present themselves in emerging markets. She cut her teeth as a consultant at EY-Parthenon advising private equity firms in directing capital to the tune of $2B+, strategies for companies looking into emerging markets, and governments and fortune 100 companies on growth.

Tyler is an advocate for impact both in investing and in operating businesses. This is what she had to say about her career journey thus far:

“I have spent my career dancing the cha cha cha that marries purpose with profit – leveraging capital to drive growth and innovation to improve lives.”

This ethos pays homage to Tyler’s work at an impact investing fund out of MIT, making investments in early-stage companies globally. She began her career after graduating from Stanford University in business operations and strategy, at a start-up in Kenya directing their first equity capital raise and strategy redevelopment.

We are delighted to have her join the MarketForce team as she is passionate about driving access to capital into emerging markets as well as women’s health and economic empowerment.

When asked what makes her excited to join the MarketForce Team, this is what she had to say:

“Merchants across the continent are woefully underserved – financially, digitally, and commercially – despite employing ~60% of the population. On top of that, MSMEs in Africa face a $330B+ financing gap, crippling their growth. MarketForce is bridging the gap for these merchants, providing tailor-made solutions that meet their needs – improving access to affordable inventory via our B2B marketplace, bringing them into the digital economy with our app, and providing access to financial services that will grow their businesses and improve their livelihoods. I’m honored and thrilled to be a part of MarketForce’s rocketship trajectory enabling these micro-entrepreneurs to reach their full potential while showcasing the growth and investment potential of innovative business models on the African continent in the process.”

MarketForce is a US, Kenya and Nigeria-based technology company that is building the operating system for retail distribution in Africa. MarketForce provides an all-inclusive B2B Commerce and Fintech platform (dubbed “RejaReja” – Swahili for ‘retail’) that empowers merchants in Africa to source, order and pay for inventory digitally and conveniently, access financing, collect digital payments and make extra money by reselling digital financial services such as airtime, electricity tokens and bill payments. Launched in 2018, MarketForce is a fast-growing YC backed company running an asset-light business model and is currently operational in 5 markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 100,000 merchants and 50 consumer brands trading on the platform.