Kenyan startup secures $3.5m funding as it moves to open Africa for business

mSurvey was founded in 2012 by Kenfield Griffith and Louis Majanja.
Over 66% of Africa’s economic activity takes place in the informal sector.
In 2017 alone, the company conducted over 12 million conversations with consumers on the continent.

A Kenyan startup, mSurvey, the first mobile consumer feedback platform for businesses and consumers in Africa has secured $3.5m (Sh350m) Series A Investment.

The Series funding is led by Africa focused venture firm TLcom Capital with investment from Social Capital, Kapor Capital, Golden Palm, and Richard Owen; founding team of Net Promoter Score (NPS).

This follows Seed Investment rounds from Cross Culture Ventures, Alpha Angels and Safaricom’s Spark Venture Fund.

Dr. Kenfield Griffith, mSurvey co-founder and CEO expressed delight at the announcement and said the investment will enable the company to continue building out its infrastructure and partnerships, in order to scale and expand into more African countries.

“Completing our Series A round allows us to tackle this difficult, yet enormous opportunity that exists in connecting African consumers with businesses to develop trust, and ensuring that millions more two-way conversations can take place each year. African consumers will be spending $2.1 trillion a year on consumer goods by 2025, a growth rate of at 4.5%[1]. We see mSurvey as a strategic partner for thousands of companies who are part of this growth trajectory.”

Also read: 5 LITTLE KNOWN BUT EXTREMELY INNOVATIVE AFRICAN STARTUPS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Africa is one of the world’s youngest, fastest growing and most dynamic emerging markets, yet many business’ knowledge around who their customers are or how their customers feel about their service remains relatively opaque.

Over 66% of Africa’s economic activity takes place in the informal sector, making it challenging for any business to understand who their customer really is, and hindering the analysis of feedback.

“Businesses looking to compete in Africa, those already operating on the continent, or international companies looking to expand here, cannot build a detailed, reliable or robust understanding of their customer base through arbitrary pen and paper interviews taken in small, mostly urban, hubs. This requires in-depth and continuous conversations to get to what is really important to consumers on the continent. mSurvey offers a unique proposition in that we can deliver these far-reaching and valuable conversations with customers, at scale. The trust that we have helped build between consumers and brands in Africa is, I believe, a unique and compelling proposition that has helped us secure this investment. We will be working with our investors, at a strategic level to ensure we continue impacting business-ready companies looking to grow in Africa,” added Claire Munene, mSurvey’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Also read: KENYAN FIRM WHICH WON AVA DIGITAL AWARD REVEALS STRATEGIES ON HOW IT WINS CONTRACTS

Founded in 2012 , the company has within a short span gained traction in Kenya and has now set its sights to Nigeria and South Africa market as it moves to make the entire African continent open for business.

Last year alone, the company conducted over 12 million conversations with consumers on the continent and works with businesses such as Commercial Bank of Africa, Kenya Commercial Bank, Safaricom, Airtel, Java House, Liberty Insurance, and Britam as well as US-based companies and institutions including Harvard, Emory and CNN.