Luca
Setting the Scene
Imagine trying to run a business today with only a pen and paper. 📝
Small businesses in many parts of the world have access to numerous platforms to manage their transactions, employees, inventory, and more. 📲
In Africa, it's a different story.
In fact, 73% of small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria rely on that pen and paper to track transactions.
Not only do businesses in Africa have limited digital solutions, but they also face inconsistent internet connection, disrupting their operations.
This week’s company provides bookkeeping software that enables African small businesses to track finances online and offline.
In a Sentence
Luca is a bookkeeping platform that enables small businesses in Africa to track finances offline.
Bookkeeping: Track income and expenses, log inventory, manage receipts and invoices, generate reports, and more.
Offline: Users can continue operating when they lose internet access.
Bulleted Version:
- Think of Luca as bookkeeping on Airplane Mode. ✈︎
The Basics
- Headquarters: Lagos
- Employee Count: 14
- Investors:Freemium model with subscription and transaction revenue
- Early traction: 16k businesses, 65% MoM growth, $65m total annualized transaction value recorded on the platform, partnerships with licensed financial institutions
Due Diligence
WHAT WE LIKE
🧾 A financial frontier: Nigeria's bookkeeping market is valued at $200b, yet fewer than 7% of the 37 million small businesses have embraced digital technology.
👨🏽💻 Uninterrupted: Luca differentiates from its competitors and builds stickiness by offering offline infrastructure that enables urban and rural businesses to continue operating during slow internet connectivity.
💰 Expansion: With plans to offer credit services, Luca will diversify revenue, build customer loyalty, and address a major pain point for African small businesses.
POTENTIAL RISKS
🏦 Churn challenge: Eighty percent of micro, small, and medium businesses in Africa fail in five years, which may cause higher churn and a shorter customer lifetime.
🏁 Competition: Luca competes with several funded African startups and leading global accounting software companies trying to win market share.
📚 Customer education: While Luca offers an easy-to-use product, the company must continually invest in customer education and support to help micro businesses transform their accounting operations from pen and paper.
Founder Profile
Kunle Odebunmi, CEO: Previously founded AllBase Energy and Arnergy Solar.
Comps
Dukka: Backed by SNR and Flexcap Ventures.
Pastel: Backed by TLcom Capital, Global Founders Capital, Soma, and others.
Kippa: Backed by Goodwater Capital, TEN13, Rocketship VC, and others.
Bamba: Backed by 468 Capital, Presight Capital, Jigsaw VC, and angels.
Why Luca
By offering an intuitive platform with offline access and indigenous language support, we are banking that Luca will help transform millions of African businesses. 🏦