Afrigather Alerzo, the B2B e-commerce firm backed by Nosara Capital and FJ Labs, laid off at the very least 70 staff in early February regardless of elevating funds twice in 2023. Two folks conversant in the matter mentioned the layoffs had been pushed by a necessity to chop prices and extend runway. Nevertheless, the corporate mentioned digitisation and a must create a sustainable enterprise drove the choices.
The corporate has laid off staff twice prior to now 12 months, reducing its headcount by at the very least 400 in 2023. Many affected staff had been warehouse workers.
The layoffs in February 2024 additionally affected junior staff at warehouses and entrance places of work, two individuals conversant in the matter advised TechCabal.
Alerzo confirmed the layoffs however declined to share the variety of staff affected.
“In February we additionally had a big workforce of just about 1500 staff. Whereas any layoff is regrettable, we’ve carried out our greatest to restrict the quantity affected,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement to TechCabal.
“All those that had been laid off had been nonetheless given severance packages and had well being advantages prolonged for a further three months.”
Because the startup lower prices, it raised funding twice in 2023 however didn’t disclose the funding quantities.
It’s unclear if current traders participated in each funding rounds.
Per Crunchbase, Alerzo raised “undisclosed non-equity help” after it was chosen as a member of the June 2023 cohort of World Financial Discussion board’s Know-how Pioneers.
Three folks conversant in the conversations claimed the corporate additionally raised funding in April and September 2023.
“We did increase some capital in 2023 however are unable to reveal the quantity,” a spokesperson for the corporate mentioned.
Based in 2018 by Adewale Opaleye, Alerzo raised $525,000 in pre-seed funding in 2020 and $5 million in a seed spherical in 2020. Its $10.5 million Series A round was additionally well-publicised. It additionally raised an undisclosed quantity in a January 2022 Collection B spherical.
Struggles in Africa’s B2B e-commerce
Alerzo’s layoffs spotlight the issue of the B2B e-commerce mannequin in Africa. Many startups within the sector got down to remedy the inefficient distribution of products to thousands and thousands of small retailers in Africa backed by massive VCs and thousands and thousands of {dollars} in funding.
As an alternative, many have discovered themselves in a repair, distributing comparable merchandise from FMCGs, with little or no differentiation from their rivals.
“Everyone seems to be gathering from the identical FMCGs and distributing to the identical retailers. And since client spending is shrinking, the volumes the retailers are shopping for is decreasing,” one individual with data of the trade mentioned.
“The opposite downside is that there’s additionally a worth conflict in a shrinking house.”
Startups additionally compete with big-time “offline” distributors who transfer enormous volumes from FMCGs with out steep know-how and advertising prices.
“One of many greatest distributors for a selected FMCG buys merchandise price as much as ₦10 billion month-to-month and their operation is fairly small. These volumes are greater than what most B2B e-commerce startups have,” mentioned one individual with data of the sector.
The flexibility to maneuver such enormous volumes attracts incentives and the very best charges from the FMCG firms. These casual distributors have additionally constructed a robust community of shoppers through the years.
