Lagos-based fashion and beauty e-commerce platform Maka has raised $2.65 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pan-African venture capital firms 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital.
Other contributors include Palm Drive Capital, angel investor Jonathan Shipman, and executives from delivery platform Wolt.
Maka
Maka empowers trusted creators to live-stream and sell directly to their audiences. The platform allows shoppers to purchase through live-streams, on-demand videos, or online catalogs.
Founded in 2021 by Diana Owusu-Kyereko, former CEO of Jumia Ghana and ex-CCO of Jumia Kenya, Maka originated as an interactive social commerce platform.
During the pandemic, Owusu-Kyereko faced difficulties finding inclusive fashion inspiration in Ghana. As TechCrunch reports, this led her to explore alternatives to traditional shopping avenues.
Establishing trust in the buying process
The core of Maka’s strategy involves leveraging videos to connect its Gen Z and millennial users with trusted creators. It does so by recognizing the trust-building power of video content, especially in low-trust markets.
The platform encourages creators to showcase products through live try-on hauls, reviews, and user-generated content. The primary goal is to instill confidence in users, ensuring that what they see is what they get.
After making a purchase, customers are encouraged to share their feedback through concise video reviews, typically lasting between 30 and 60 seconds. This feature not only influences the purchasing decisions of other users but also creates a scalable base of creators.
Since launching two months ago, this user-generated model has seen users generate over 2,000 reviews.
Unlike platforms that focus on a select group of prominent creators, Maka’s user-generated content model allows every customer to become a creator.
“That’s why the user-generated content model is so powerful,” Owusu-Kyereko told TechCrunch. “It’s scalable because you have an infinite amount of people who can create video content on the platform based on purchases, versus working with only a select group of creators to create content on the platform.”
Helping creators monetize
Moreover, Maka has a rewards system to incentivize users to contribute video reviews.
Creators earn an average of N500 (50 cents) for each uploaded review. According to Owusu-Kyereko, a creator on Maka produces about seven videos per user.
Creators also gain points when others make purchases based on their reviews.
They can then convert these points into cash that can be spent on the platform, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that encourages continued user engagement.
Future Plans and Expansion
Maka has seen impressive growth, with over 500,000 downloads since its inception. The recent pre-seed funding round, led by Janngo Capital and 4DX Ventures, will be used to expand the team, enhance technological capabilities, and deepen the platform’s presence in Ghana and Nigeria.
Fatoumata Bâ, founder and executive chair of Janngo Capital, emphasized the potential for massive growth and impact, stating, “These three sectors are jointly poised to grow by 4x by 2050 and generate up to $200 billion GDP while creating 184 million jobs.”
“We are proud to lead this funding round to help unlock a potential of massive growth and impact on the continent.”
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