Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The African Electronic Commerce Startup B2B Sabi dismissed about 20% of his workforce (~ 50 employees) because he pivots his original retail platform to double a growing company in exports of raw materials.
Layoffs, confirmed by the company Thursday, part of a wider restructuring aimed at aligning resources on what it describes as an increasing demand for products of ethical products, an area that it began to develop last year under a new vertical called Trace (Technology Rails for African Commodity Exchange).
Launched in Lagos in 2020, Sabi began as a software platform to help informal retailers to digitize stocks and sales in the midst of COVVI-19 disturbances. It then extended to a fast market of consumer goods (FMCG) with integrated finances, a scaling of Nigeria and Kenya. In mid-2023, Sabi claimed more than 300,000 merchants and $ 1 billion in annualized GMV.
This momentum helped him guarantee a Round of 38 million dollars B series to an assessment of $ 300 million.
But like many startups in the B2B electronic commerce space in Africa, Sabi has faced structural opposite winds: thin margins, capital intensity and difficult unit economy. Unlike competitors who burned the capital, Sabi maintained an asset model and remained profitable. However, the market change was clear.
In March, the company launched Trace as a new commercial line, alongside FMCG. The new vertical targets mineral and agricultural exports such as lithium, cobalt, tin and cash crops, where global buyers are increasingly requiring transparency, ESG conformity and traceability.
Sabi says that it now exports more than 20,000 tonnes of these products to buyers in the United States, Europe and Asia. He also launched operations in the United States and has hired to support this expansion.
“Sabi is entering its next chapter, with a targeted commitment to the trade and traceability of raw materials for global customers,” he said in a statement.
“We double from our company by seeing the most demand, based on the solid bases that we have laid since 2021 by supporting the African merchants and their growth.
The transition underlines a broader theme: while informal commercial platforms in Africa seek sustainability, Sabi shows that the evolution of infrastructure games for world trade is possible. Although this strategy offers higher margins and clearer paths to profitability, it can also lead to internal reshuffles as shown by Sabi’s restructuring.
(Tagstotranslate) B2B e-commerce
Source link
