Nigerian eCommerce Startup OurPass Secures 1M Pre-Seed Funding

Abuja-based startup OurPass, an e-commerce solutions provider offering the fastest one-click checkout technology for digital commerce in Africa and describes itself as the “Fast for Africa”, has also closed a $1 million pre-seed round to scale across the country. The round was led by Tekedia Capital and angel investors from Fortune 500 companies, the company said. 

OurPass provides innovative solutions that facilitate faster and seamless transactions in the African digital marketplace. 

OurPass also recently announced the official unveiling and virtual launch of the OurPass App designed to change the speed at which e-commerce interactions are completed, so this virtual product launch event, which is themed “Redefining The Online Shopping Experience”, is scheduled to be held on Friday, September 10, 2021, live on the OurPass YouTube channel.

Nigeria’s e-commerce market is still heavily reliant on cash on delivery. In fact, as of 2019, 70% of Nigerians in a survey said they prefer cash on delivery options to making online payments. But the narrative is slowly changing with the likes of Paystack and Flutterwave, making it easier for merchants to collect online payments.

Per Statista, 27% of online payments made on e-commerce sites are now carried out with cards, topping cash and bank transfers as the most common payment method. Yet checkout still remains a major issue for merchants. Yearly, about 75% of shopping carts are abandoned due to how cumbersome the checkout experience can be with long forms and re-log-ins.

Attempting to tackle this challenge, OurPass provides a mobile application that enables consumers to shop with one click. The first time consumers sign up on the OurPass platform, they enter their names, email, and shipping addresses. OurPass then creates an identity for each customer, which is passed across every online store they shop.

Alongside its one-click checkout, OurPass also offers free delivery on all orders for customers. The company partnered with logistics companies like MAX.ng and Gokada to execute on this front. The one-year-old company charges 0.8% per transaction, capped at N1,000 (~$20) for merchants and a commission of 5% on every product sold — The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OurPass, Samuel Chukwunons Eze, also hints at a plan for the company to introduce subscriptions.

Since beta launching in May this year, OurPass claims to have done $500,000 in transaction value and hopes continuous growth will see it become the go-to platform for consumer checkout in Nigeria by 2023. Per use of funds, Eze says OurPass will develop its technology and grow its team to up to 200 people before the end of next year.