Despite cooling investor enthusiasm for African B2B commerce startups, OmniRetail has defied the trend with a $20 million Series A equity raise. Led by Norfund and Timon Capital, the funding round positions the Lagos-based platform for aggressive expansion across Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast, while deepening its focus on embedded finance.
Founded by Deepankar Rustagi in 2019, OmniRetail is reimagining informal retail across West Africa. By digitizing supply chains and integrating finance into retail operations, the company supports 145 manufacturers, 5,800 distributors, and over 150,000 informal retailers. Retailers use OmniRetail’s app to order inventory, access working capital, and make digital payments, all backed by a third-party logistics network of 1,100 vehicles and distributed warehousing managed by 85 local partners.
Unlike many peers, OmniRetail pursued an asset-light model that allowed it to achieve profitability while scaling. In 2023, the company became EBITDA positive, and by 2024, it posted net profits—rare milestones for B2B commerce players on the continent. Rustagi credits this success to the platform’s efficiency-driven “network of networks” approach, maximizing asset utilization without displacing existing supply chain players.
“We are not just expanding for growth’s sake,” Rustagi said. “We are optimizing margins through better warehousing occupancy, smarter logistics routing, and deeper category penetration.”
OmniRetail’s strategy is distinct in another critical way: it delayed launching credit products until achieving significant operational scale. Unlike others that extended credit prematurely, OmniRetail waited until it had robust transaction data and distribution breadth.
Thanks to this strategy, OmniRetail processed more than ₦1.3 trillion ($810 million) in transactions last year, while Omnipay, its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform, disbursed approximately ₦19 billion ($12 million) in inventory credit each month, maintaining an impressive near-zero default rate.
The acquisition of Nigeria-based Traction Apps in 2024 further bolstered OmniRetail’s offering. Traction brings full-stack payment solutions—POS terminals, PSSP licenses, Super Agent licenses—and retailer-level sales data, enabling OmniRetail to build comprehensive financial profiles of retailers and better tailor financial products.
“Our model recognizes that every transaction in the FMCG value chain involves the movement of goods and funds,” Rustagi explained. “We are now in a position to maximize margins at every point in that chain.”
This round is more than capital—it’s conviction. We’ve cracked the unit economics, we’ve built at scale, and now we’re laying down financial railroads around that network. This is not just about reach anymore—it’s about dominance and delivering cash flow at scale. Some of our next moves are laser-focused: a solid debt raise for inventory finance, strategic acquisitions, and a relentless profitable growth,” said Archit Bagaria, Head of Investments at OmniRetail
The company’s operational metrics reflect its strong momentum: a 35% increase in net merchandise volume (NMV) and a 40% revenue growth over the past year, all while maintaining profitability amid regional expansion.
With the new capital, OmniRetail plans to diversify into categories like personal care, home care, and cold storage. It also intends to strengthen its credit underwriting tools, improve logistics infrastructure, and expand partnerships with domestic debt providers. Strategic acquisitions and a planned debt raise for inventory financing are also on the horizon.
For lead investor Norfund, OmniRetail represents more than just a tech startup—it’s economic infrastructure. “Embedded finance is one of the most transformative tools for small business growth in Africa,” said Cathrine Conradi, Investor Director at Norfund.
Timon Capital, a long-time backer of OmniRetail, sees the company’s evolution as a breakout moment. “OmniRetail has now hit an inflection point in distribution, payments, and credit,” the firm stated, “showing how much profitable growth they can generate with their expanding footprint.”
