Kenya’s SUKHIBA secures $1.5M seed extension to expand WhatsApp-based e-commerce in emerging markets
SUKHIBA, a Kenyan commerce and CRM platform has completed a $1.55 million seed extension round led by EQ2 Ventures.
Other top-tier investors participating in the round include Accion Venture Lab, Musha Ventures, Quona Capital, and existing investors CRE Ventures.
Founded in 2021 by Ananth Raj Gudipati and Abhinav Reddy SUKHIBA is a conversational commerce and CRM platform built on top of WhatsApp. Focused on emerging markets, SUKHIBA helps medium and large enterprises extend their sales and retention by leveraging WhatsApp.
“SUKHIBA is designed to bridge the gap between brands, manufacturers, distributors, and their customers in emerging markets by leveraging the ubiquitous nature of WhatsApp.” Ananth Gudipati, Co-Founder and CEO of SUKHIBA, said.
”This seed extension marks a significant milestone for us, enabling us to scale our operations and enhance our SaaS platform to better serve our growing customer base of manufacturers, distributors and D2C brands.”
SUKHIBA has achieved significant growth since 2023 and today operates in eight markets across Africa and India, working with top-tier manufacturers, distributors, leading retail chains, and D2C brands. More than 35,000 SMEs are already purchasing products and services through its merchant partners. SUKHIBA can scale seamlessly by integrating various payment companies and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as SAP, ERPNext, Shopify, WooCommerce among others.
Ananth Gudipati, Co-Founder and CEO of SUKHIBA, said “SUKHIBA is designed to bridge the gap between brands, manufacturers, distributors, and their customers in emerging markets by leveraging the ubiquitous nature of WhatsApp. This seed extension marks a significant milestone for us, enabling us to scale our operations and enhance our SaaS platform to better serve our growing customer base of manufacturers, distributors and D2C brands.”
SUKHIBA says the newly secured funds will be pivotal in accelerating its expansion across Africa and other emerging markets.
Commenting on the funding, Manish Phulwani, Associate Director at EQ2 Ventures, said “Our follow-on investment in SUKHIBA is a strong vote of confidence, having witnessed the team’s consistent execution since the early days. Their exceptional product mindset is rare, positioning them to lead the transition of business and consumer transactions to WhatsApp across emerging markets. We look forward to continuing this journey with the team.”
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