Tesh Mbaabu
Kenyan serial tech entrepreneur behind MarketForce and Chpter. He builds digital rails that modernize informal retail and make social channels real storefronts for African businesses.
African cities run on millions of small shops that keep neighborhoods alive. For years these retailers worked with fragmented distributors, cash-only transactions, and limited access to credit.
Tesh Mbaabu has focused on one idea. Informal retail does not need to be replaced. It needs better rails. First, reliable supply and finance for kiosks. Then, automated selling and payments inside WhatsApp and Instagram.
Two companies carry that thesis: MarketForce for physical retail distribution, and Chpter for conversational social commerce.
Key Numbers
Most reliable public metrics for MarketForce and Chpter.
Sources: MarketForce Series A disclosures (Feb 2022). Chpter pre-seed round (Sep 2024). Flutterwave partnership enabling Chpter across 11 new countries (2025).
The Story
From digitizing kiosks to turning chats into storefronts.
Mbaabu co-founded MarketForce to fix a bottleneck he saw in every African city: small retailers lacked stable supply, reliable pricing, and access to working capital. MarketForce created a merchant app that unifies ordering, delivery, and embedded finance.
In February 2022, the company announced a $40 million Series A to accelerate its expansion. At the time, MarketForce publicly reported 200,000+ merchants across five markets and $42.5 million raised in total.
By 2024, a new opportunity emerged. Customers were migrating from physical storefronts to chat conversations. SMEs needed automated selling tools inside the channels where customers already lived—WhatsApp and Instagram. This led to the creation of Chpter.
Chpter launched first in Kenya and South Africa, and in 2025 expanded into eleven new countries through a partnership with Flutterwave, enabling payments and conversational selling at scale.
Ventures
Platforms built or co-built by Tesh Mbaabu.
MarketForce
Co-founder, CEOB2B commerce and retail distribution platform helping informal shops source inventory, receive delivery, and access stock finance.
Chpter
Co-founder, CEOConversational commerce platform enabling SMEs to automate sales, customer interactions, and payments inside WhatsApp and Instagram.
Contribution to Africa
What changes because these rails exist.
Direct Impact
Structural Impact
- Retail data layer: Informal commerce becomes measurable, improving credit scoring and supply planning.
- Lower distribution cost: Aggregated demand and optimized logistics improve margins for small shops.
- SME productivity: Automation reduces reliance on manual selling and customer management.
- AfCFTA-ready rails: Digital ordering and payments make cross-border SME trade easier.
Signal
MarketForce Series A disclosures (Feb 2022); merchant & market footprint statements.
Chpter pre-seed announcements (Sept 2024).
Flutterwave partnership enabling Chpter expansion across 11 African countries (2025).
Data verified November 2025.
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