As the lines between e-commerce and messaging continue to blur, African software startup Chpter is positioning itself at the center of a new wave in digital retail—social commerce powered by AI and real-time payments. Through a landmark partnership with Flutterwave, one of Africa’s leading payments infrastructure companies, Chpter has now extended its reach to 11 new African countries, taking its pan-African presence to a total of 14 markets.
The partnership grants merchants in countries like Ghana, Egypt, Senegal, Rwanda, and Tanzania the ability to accept local and international payments directly via WhatsApp and Instagram, two of the continent’s most influential digital platforms. Powered on the backend by Flutterwave’s secure, multi-currency payment engine, Chpter’s expansion unlocks a unified solution for merchants to sell, communicate, and get paid—all within the chat apps their customers already use daily.
What makes this move especially significant is not just its geographic footprint, but the strategic convergence of three megatrends: the rise of conversational commerce, the growing adoption of AI in business operations, and the demand for simple, seamless payments across borders.
Chat, Pay, Repeat: Social Commerce at Scale
At its core, Chpter enables businesses—particularly SMEs—to transform conversations into conversions. The company’s tools allow merchants to list products, manage orders, run campaigns, and respond to customers across multiple messaging apps from a single, unified dashboard.
With up to 60% of inbound traffic for its merchants now coming from WhatsApp and Instagram, Chpter’s platform is optimized for where real customer engagement happens today—not on websites, but in chat threads. And as a Meta Business Partner, Chpter has privileged access to tools that deepen this interaction: product catalogs, marketing APIs, and embedded checkout experiences inside messaging platforms.
This means that a customer in Uganda can browse a boutique’s catalog on WhatsApp, place an order, and pay instantly via mobile money or card—all without ever leaving the chat.
AI at the Heart of the Experience
Chpter isn’t just a commerce tool—it’s becoming an AI-first platform. The company’s flagship feature, Chpter.AI, allows businesses to automate sales and customer service conversations through smart assistants trained to respond to FAQs, capture orders, and even recommend products.
According to Chpter’s co-founder and President Tesh Mbaabu, nearly 45% of all customer interactions on Chpter are already handled by AI, with expectations to reach 80% as the technology evolves and merchant confidence grows. This automation isn’t about replacing people, he notes, but about ensuring round-the-clock responsiveness, especially in Africa’s time-zone-fragmented markets.
“Besides Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, where Chpter has been operational, merchants in Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Zambia can now sign up and accept both local and international payments on WhatsApp through us, with payment options such as cards (local and international), mobile money and bank transfers. This major feat has been made possible because of this collaboration with Flutterwave.” – Tesh Mbaabu
Chpter’s latest release, Pluto, a comprehensive WhatsApp API suite, supports developers and large enterprises in designing more interactive, end-to-end user experiences within the chat ecosystem—from lead capture and onboarding to sales and support.
Flutterwave: The Missing Link
While Chpter handles the interface, Flutterwave is the engine that makes commerce possible. The fintech giant’s infrastructure ensures that whether a transaction is happening in Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, or Egypt, merchants can accept mobile money, card, or bank transfers—with local currency settlement and global compliance built in.
“Partnering with Chpter enables us to continue empowering merchants in Africa by equipping them with the right tools to connect and transact directly with customers on platforms they already trust,” said Mayokun Owolabi, Flutterwave’s VP of Global Expansion & Partnerships. “We’re making buying and selling faster, safer, and more intuitive.”
This infrastructure partnership allows Chpter to offer a truly localized solution in each market, without merchants having to worry about the technical or regulatory complexity of cross-border payments.
Growth Without Borders
Established in 2022 by a team of four co-founders: Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin, and Mark Kiarie, Chpter secured $1.2 million during its pre-seed investment round spearheaded by Pani, an investment firm and participation from a diverse group of investors, including Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, and ViKtoria Ventures.
Chpter’s momentum is undeniable. It took the company over a year to onboard its first 1,000 merchants—but it added 1,500 more in just four months in 2025 alone. What’s more impressive is that new users are signing up in countries where Chpter has done no direct marketing, signaling organic demand for a solution that bridges social engagement and payments.
CEO Mark Kiarie noted that businesses in Senegal and Tanzania are joining in droves, demonstrating a clear hunger for tools that can turn WhatsApp chats into full-fledged storefronts.
With a subscription model ranging from $50 to $550 per month, and additional revenue from messaging and AI services, Chpter is proving that SaaS can scale in Africa—as long as pricing and design reflect local realities.
A New Era of Commerce
What Chpter and Flutterwave are building isn’t just another digital tool—it’s the infrastructure for a new kind of economy. One where commerce is conversational, where AI helps close the sale, and where payments happen in real time, regardless of geography.
As the continent’s entrepreneurs continue to build the future, Chpter’s expansion proves that when technology meets trust and timing, even a chat message can become a thriving business transaction.
P.S
To celebrate, Chpter is offering a special 15% discount (use coupon code FLW15) until the end of June 2025 for merchants signing up across all the new countries
