ENTREPRENEURS • TopUp Mama Raises $1.7m to Support African Restaurants • Khusoko

TopUp Mama, a Kenyan startup which provides African restaurants with access to supplies, financial services and business management tools, has closed a US$1.7 million seed funding.

This seed round was led by Ventures Platform, JAM Fund, Next Billion Ventures, Future Africa, Jedar Capital, HoaQ Fund, First Check Africa and DFS Lab.

The funds will be used by TopUp Mama to accelerate growth, build out the technology, and scale its sales management tools for restaurants.

“I grew up in the restaurant business in Zambia, and I know first-hand the power small businesses have in transforming lives. This is why we’re passionate about increasing restaurant contribution to Africa’s GDP,” said Njavwa Mutambo, TopUp Mama’s CEO.

“We believe we have a unique opportunity to build Africa’s most prominent restaurant partner and build one of the largest companies Africa has ever seen.”

“Over the last 10 months, our monthly volumes have grown by over 1168%. So we’re excited to announce that we’ve closed $1.7M to double down on our mission to increase restaurant contribution to Africa’s GDP,” Mutambo says.

Ventures Platform founder Kola Aina said he was excited about TopUp Mama’s impact across restaurants – “which serve as the heartbeat of neighbourhoods in Africa”.

“Topup Mama empowers restaurant owners with access to affordable foodstuffs and powerful data analytics to deliver the delicious meals that keep us sustained and bring us together. Importantly, they also help restaurants grow their customer base while improving efficiency,” he said.