Disrupt Africa
Tom Jackson
Moroccan B2B e-commerce startup WaystoCap is busy expanding in the West African region having opened offices in Burkina Faso and Togo to add to its existing operations in Benin.
WaystoCap allows African businesses to buy and sell products, helping them to discover products, verify them, obtain financing and insurance, manage their shipments, and ensure payments security.
The startup was a participant in the Y Combinator accelerator and raised a funding round last year, beginning its expansion by opening a satellite office in Benin. That earned it a place in Disrupt Africa’s list of 12 Startups To Watch for 2018, and it has continued growing by opening two new West African offices in Burkina Faso and Togo.
It has also expanded its product offering in West Africa with WaystoCap Local, which helps buyers and sellers get closer to each other, and enables trust and ease. The platform offers even more flexibility to buyers and sellers, helping them deal in smaller amounts and pay in cash, and developing credit models to suit them.
Nic Pantucci, head of product and co-founder of WaystoCap, told Disrupt Africa the new offices and the new product have been very successful and are growing quickly.
He said the logic of expanding into neighbouring countries was threefold.
“The Franc CFA region is well integrated from a logistics and economic perspective. We are able to easily work across the three markets,” Pantucci said.
“A number of customers had been asking for us to present in those markets too with WaystoCap Local,” he added.
The third is the ability to more deeply assist trade for customers.
“We are getting closer to our customers, so we can service them better with local payment options, and other security benefits,” said Pantucci.
