Nigerian B2B E-commerce Startup OmniRetail Secures USD 20 M Series A

Nigerian startup OmniRetail has raised USD 20 M in Series A funding to capture more of West Africa’s informal retail sector and expand its embedded finance offerings. The round was co-led by Norfund, marking its first direct equity investment in an African startup, and Timon Capital, with participation from Ventures Platform, Aruwa Capital Management, Goodwell Investments, and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

Founded by Deepankar Rustagi in 2019, OmniRetail connects over 150,000 retailers across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire to inventory, credit, and logistics through a “network of networks” model. The company’s embedded finance arm, Omnipay, processed over NGN 1.3 T (USD 810 M) in transactions in 2024 and now disburses NGN 19 B (USD 12 M) in buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) inventory credit, achieving near-zero defaults thanks to deep merchant integration and rigorous underwriting.

Despite the turbulence in Africa’s B2B e-commerce scene, which Rustagi previously told WT is part of growing pains, the company hit EBITDA profitability in 2023 and became net profitable in 2024, leveraging an asset-light approach built on third-party logistics and distributed warehousing. Its recent acquisition of Nigeria’s Traction Apps further strengthens its payment infrastructure, granting OmniRetail complete visibility into retailer-level sales data and enabling it to offer more tailored financial products.

Rustagi emphasised that OmniRetail’s evolution from simple access to a full-scale financial and retail engine reflects a shift toward dominance and cash flow generation. “We are expanding not just to grow, but to optimise and maximise margins across the entire value chain,” he said.

The new funding will support geographic expansion, deepen OmniRetail’s product categories, including cold storage and home care, and strengthen its credit and payment infrastructure. The company is also preparing a domestic debt raise to fuel its growing loan book and considering strategic acquisitions across retail, supply chain, and financial services.

With USD 38 M raised in equity and debt to date, OmniRetail’s model is increasingly seen as a blueprint for sustainable, tech-driven retail transformation in Africa’s massive informal market.