African Fashion And Beauty E-commerce Platform MAKA Raises $2.65 Million Pre-seed

In a strategic move to bolster its influence in Nigeria and Ghana, MAKA has successfully secured a noteworthy pre-seed funding round, amassing an impressive $2.65 million. The brainchild of Diana Owusu-Kyereko, former CEO of Jumia Ghana and ex-Chief Commercial Officer at Jumia Kenya, MAKA, established in 2021, stands out as a social e-commerce platform revolutionising the way users discover products tailored to their style. The platform achieves this through live try-on hauls, insightful reviews, and a dynamic user-generated content approach.

Owusu-Kyereko’s foray into the entrepreneurial realm was triggered by the challenges faced during the pandemic, where the search for comprehensive fashion inspiration in Ghana proved to be a daunting task. A thorough survey of hundreds of individuals in Ghana and Nigeria revealed a common struggle, inspiring the inception of MAKA to address the prevalent shopping dilemmas.

MAKA doesn’t just stop at redefining the shopping experience; it also tackles the hurdles faced by content creators in monetizing their influence and navigates the trust issues that often arise during transactions. Employing interactive video as a trust-building tool, the platform fosters a strong bond between users and content creators.

One distinctive feature of MAKA is its review functionality, allowing users to share their experiences through succinct 30- to 60-second videos post-purchase. These reviews wield significant influence over the purchasing decisions of other users, creating a sense of community and trust within the MAKA platform. To incentivize users to contribute, the company has implemented a rewards program where creators earn points for every video review, additional points when others make purchases based on their recommendations, and bonus points for sharing reviews on external social media platforms. These points can be redeemed for cash within the platform.

As technology adoption surges, especially among younger demographics, e-commerce penetration has witnessed a substantial rise from 13% in 2017 to 28% in 2021, encompassing a user base of 334 million. MAKA strategically leverages this trend to connect with a broader customer base, focusing its efforts on the fashion sector and the burgeoning creator economy.

Since its inception, MAKA has gained significant traction, amassing over 500,000 downloads by initially engaging creators through live sessions. However, the startup’s recent pivot to a user-generated content model has proven even more successful, resulting in over 2,000 reviews in just two months. This accomplishment underscores MAKA’s growing influence and sets the stage for its continued expansion in the dynamic social commerce landscape.