Nigeria’s OjaExpress enters Techstars Kansas City accelerator

On June 6th, OjaExpress, a Nigerian-based start-up, announced that it has been accepted in Techstars Kansas City Accelerator Class of 2020 and will receive seed funding of US$120K.

 

The Techstars Kansas City Accelerator 2020 includes ten companies that enable greater transparency and access in healthcare, and food supply. To facilitate and accelerate growth, Techstars will support these start-ups by focusing on building a strong foundation. Techstars, a global network, connects start-ups to investors, experts, alumni, mentors and other entrepreneurs. The accelerator’s portfolio includes more than 1,500 companies with a market cap of US$13.9 billion.

Founded by Boyede Sobitan and Fola Dada from Nigeria, OjaExpress is based in America. The two Nigerian immigrants launched OjaExpress in 2016 in Chicago. It is a digital platform that allows users to shop ethnic, cultural and religious ingredients online. It aims to address the issue of food access and convenience for immigrant communities and foodies in Chicago and beyond.

It works with independent grocers that carry these hard-to-find ingredients such as mom-and-pop shops. The founders’ craving for Nigerian food and their need to be connected to their culture inspired them. As no popular online grocery delivery platform works with the mom and pop shops that serve ethnic foods, they launched OjaExpress.

Their delivery service allows users to order ethnic groceries from local stores online, and get them delivered the same day. Making every day ordering of ethnic groceries simple, the start-up provides people easier access to food that bring home a delicious piece of their culture.

OjaExpress’ acceptance in Techstars accelerators will help them expand and their team will be participating under the leadership of Managing Director Lesa Mitchell. Boyede Sobitan, CEO of OjaExpress, said, “We are honoured and feel super happy to be a Techstars Kansas City company. We feel very much aligned with the leadership team of the network and look forward to achieving bigger things. The global Techstars network is so powerful and robust and we are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it and learn from our peers and those who went through the program before us.”

Fola Dada announced the delivery of thousands of orders since the inception of the company. “Being a part of TechStars will help OjaExpress serve our customers better, and get us one step closer to our vision of becoming the United Nations of Groceries at Your fingertips,” said Dada.

Dada further explained that there are numerous underserved immigrants in the US. OjaExpress hopes to fill the gaps between the people and the stores that try to serve their needs but don’t have the technology to provide the service. OjaExpress will “alleviate the pain for both with our situation”, added Dada.

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