How did a startup in Lagos turn into the first unicorn company in Africa valued over $1 billion? Here’s all you need to know about Jumia, a place where you can get anything and everything.

What is Jumia?

Jumia banner

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The first question that arises in your mind must be, “What exactly is Jumia?” Well, we are here to cater to that very question.

Jumia is an online public marketplace for electronics, fashion, beauty, and other such categories. More than 50,000 local African companies as partners, it is a logistic service that gives shipment and delivery of packages from sellers to buyers, that is you, directly.

The company started in 2012 in Lagos, the most populated state in Nigeria. Right now, the company’s presence is across more than 10 African countries.

History of Jumia

Jumia girl worker checking product

Image Courtesy: QZ.com

Jumia was founded by Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, who were consultants for McKinsey & Company, an American management Consulting firm along with Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Kofi Afaedor.

The company was launched in Lagos, Nigeria in 2012. It first expanded to five other countries: Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and South Africa. In 2018, it was already present in 14 African countries.

Why is Jumia gaining popularity?

Jumia employees celebrating

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Jumia has ventured into all parts of the digital lifestyle, to cater to your every need. They launched several platforms along those lines. They are as follows:-

Jumia Travel

Jumia Travel

Image Courtesy: Twitter @jumiatravelke

Jumia Travel was launched in June, 2013. It is an online hotel booking platform, which can help you make hotel reservations across the continent. It has recently partnered up with Travelstart to provide you the best travel and hotel deals.

Jumia Food

Jumia food

Jumia food was launched along with Jumia Travel in 2013. It is a food delivery platform, similar to UberEats or Deliveroo. The prepay option and cash on delivery option both are available.

Jumia Pay

Jumia Pay

Image Courtesy: play.google.com

Jumia pay (formerly known as Jumia one) was launched in 2017. It is an app that enables you to pay all your daily needs in one place. Airtime, utility bills, and shopping, all in one.

Current statistics and investors

Statistics on laptop screen

Jumia generated *drumrolls* a whopping amount of $234 million in revenue in the year 2015, which was accounting for 265% growth from 2014. It became the country’s first private startup of Africa valued over 1 billion USD in 2016. In November 2018, Cryptocurrency company, Telcoin, partnered with Jumia for the smooth payment services.

They went public on New York Stock exchange in April 2019, and raised $196 million in net proceeds. Recently, on March 16, 2020, they announced a major partnership with a global health and hygiene products manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser. The main aim is to provide a supply of hygiene products that are affordable to stop the spread of COVID-19.

In terms of investors, you would be thoroughly surprised by the big names.  The company acquired over €300M funding in March 2016. The investors were MTN (South African multinational mobile telecommunications company), Rocket Internet (European Internet company), AXA (French multinational insurance firm), Goldman Sachs (American multinational investment bank and financial services company), Orange (French multinational telecommunications corporation) and CDC (Commonwealth development corporation- finance institution owned by the UK government).

Pernod Ricard, a French company that produces alcoholic beverages, also invested in December 2018. Soon after that, in March 2019, a €50 million investment from MasterCard, an American multinational financial services corporation.

Awards and Merits

Jumia retail award

Image Courtesy: blog.jumia.com.ng

Jumia groups have been awarded numerous awards and merits, in their 8 years of operation.

  • The Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria Awards for the Online Retail Brand of the Year in 2013
  • World Retail Award in 2013
  • Best Online Retail Brand of the Year Award 2014
  • E-commerce Customer Service Excellence Awards in 2015
  • Jumia ranked 82nd in the Top WIRED 100 list in the year 2016
  • Jumia is listed and ranked 47th among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Smartest Companies 2017. It is the only African company named in MIT’s top 50 smartest companies.
  • Declared Tunisia’s best e-shop in 2019
  • E-commerce Company of the Year Award in Nigeria in 2019

Venture into the world of technology and use it to your maximum comfort. Learn more about the best e-commerce platform best suited for you. We have a furniture paradise: Homzmart, yummy food delivery of Deliveroo, and the online grocery shopping from Noon.