After successive fundraising rounds, the startup dedicated to African fashion, renamed ANKA in 2020, will cease operations.
This was announced on LinkedIn on March 20. Co-founder Moulaye Tabouré announced the news without providing further information on the reasons behind this decision.
In its ten years of existence, Afrikrea has established itself as a marketplace dedicated to African fashion and crafts, covering 145 countries around the world. In July 2018, the startup even recorded a record number of transactions worth more than €2 million. Today, the platform continues to perform well. According to Moulaye Tabouré, the marketplace now has more than 1 million visitors per month and more than 1.5 million followers on social media.
As a reminder, Afrikrea had boosted its activities thanks to successive fundraising rounds: €1 million in 2020, $6.2 million in 2022 during a pre-Series A financing round, and nearly €4.7 million in 2023. Renamed ANKA, the startup had ambitious goals: to become an all-in-one product enabling users to sell, ship, and receive payments worldwide. This would be a real catalyst for growth for African entrepreneurs.
Many e-commerce players have given up on developing their business on the continent. African e-commerce has not yet fulfilled its promise. Poor internet access, the predominance of the informal sector, low banking penetration, addressing issues, and a lack of infrastructure are all challenges that could deter many from embarking on the e-commerce adventure.