South African consumer rewards app, Maholla, has secured USD 1.5 million in seed funding to continue building the country’s largest retail-agnostic rewards and data platform.
The latest funding round brings the company’s total funding to over USD 2 million, following a pre-seed round in July 2022. Investors in the seed round include Buffet Group, Castleton Capital, Praesidium Capital Management, and Galloprovincialis.
Maholla’s rewards platform
Maholla’s app offers users incentives to scan receipts from any store, with opportunities to earn instant airtime, in-app games, 1Vouchers, and more. The company’s retail-agnostic approach has led to rapid growth and one of the highest retention rates in the business, according to the company. Maholla connects retail-neutral shopping data from scanned receipts directly to the consumer, providing a more nuanced picture of consumer behavior across the country.
Collaborations
Maholla collaborates with fast food chains, restaurants, and market research firms in South Africa to offer a detailed, real-time look at what consumers are buying. The company tracks its partners’ purchases to provide targeted incentives for continued patronage. Maholla’s superior dataset and targeting capabilities have helped many brands, including Maggi, Milo, Ricoffy, Nola, Rama, Hungry Lion, Fusion, Switch Energy, and Mr. Sheen. “Our company is on route to tracking as many purchases as a top 5 retailer in South Africa,” said Jed da Silva, co-founder and head of product at Maholla, as reported by Get Funded Africa.
Real-Time data
Maholla’s app has a download size of around 12MB, making it attractive in regard to the storage space on a South African user’s device. It works on all entry-level smartphones, and users can upload receipts with almost no impact on their monthly data plan. Maholla’s real-time data on shopping trends can help lower-income families who are struggling with rising food prices, the company claimed.
Future plans
Maholla plans to continue developing a product that helps tens of millions of shoppers get more out of their purchases. With shopping being a daily activity and the rapid growth of smartphone penetration in South Africa, the company’s goal is to foster brand loyalty and shopper influence.
e-commerce across the MENA region is on the up, with logistics and delivery startups receiving substantial investments across 2022 in order to deal with the increased demand. Chargel, a Senegal-based logistics startup, raised USD 2.5 million earlier this month as Africa as a whole mirrors the MENA region in this regard.
South Africa is one of Africa’s “Big Four” when it comes to startup investments. Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa account for 75% of Africa’s startup investments.