Nigeria-based Sendbox raises funding from Microtraction

Nigerian startup Sendbox has secured funding from early-stage fund Microtraction. The startup provides its customers with an array of services including delivery, escrow payments and authentic reviews for those who use social media platforms for e-commerce.

The startup founded by Emotu Balogun and Olusegun Afolahan, provides a means for its users to identify trustworthy merchants, securely pay for items and ship to domestic and international destinations.

Sendbox has now raised funding from Nigerian early-stage investment fund Microtraction. The firm has historically invested upto US$ 65,000 in early stage startups. Some of the startups it has backed before in the past year include; Accounteer, Riby, Thank U Cash, CowryWise, Bitkoin Africa, Wallet.ng, Allpro and Stack Dx.

Microtraction partner, Dayo Koleowo, said, “The way e-commerce happens on social platforms like Instagram and Facebook in Africa is broken. These platforms aren’t originally built for e-commerce and even though they facilitate a lot of peer-to-peer e-commerce transactions,” he continues, “they lack the necessary infrastructure and support structures typically present in traditional e-commerce platforms like Amazon and AliExpress to coordinate and regulate these transactions for their users. This is especially prevalent in Nigeria and other emerging markets.”

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These are some of the issues Microtraction has invested in Sendbox to tackle.

Sendbox has already signed up over 4,000 merchants, and gained approximately 1,000 users in the last six months.

As with all its previous investments, the exact amount pumped into  Sendbox by Microtraction remains undisclosed.