Kenyan startup MoBar Delivery is connecting consumers with suppliers via couriers using a mobile app, streamlining and simplifying distribution of goods, starting with alcohol.
Launched late last year and available on iOS, Android or Web, MoBar Delivery has already partnered with major alcohol distributor Jeyfine Wines, built up a monthly user base of 1,500 people, and earned over KES3.5 million (US$35,000) in revenue.
“We are building e-commerce and on-demand delivery logistics software for brick-and-mortar businesses. It connects consumers to suppliers via couriers, each with their own easy-to-use mobile app,” co-founder Ian Wanyoike told Disrupt Africa.
“We give consumers the ability to order products they need on-demand from brick and mortar businesses with guaranteed delivery in under an hour.”
It has started out by delivering alcohol, but plans to expand into other areas as well.
“The store run is unnecessary in this age of online service delivery. People are looking for more convenient alternatives and no one has effectively availed to consumers a product that allows them to do their day-to-day shopping of food, groceries and other home essentials on a single platform, and have their shopping delivered wherever they are in under an hour,” Wanyoike said.
“Same day and next day deliveries are what’s common but there are a lot of products that consumers need more frequently and often spontaneously.”
The response has been strong, with Wanyoike saying MoBar Delivery was encouraged by the fact most of its customers were referred to it by other users. This lead to a spike in revenue in December and an average month-on-month growth in revenue of 32 per cent so far this year.
The startup is currently raising funding to grow its sales, marketing and tech teams as it bids to become the market leader in Kenya for on-demand alcohol delivery, as well as venture into the broader FMCG space. It also plans to expand outside of Nairobi.
“We are finalising an agreement with an alcohol distributor in Mombasa for us to begin operations in Nyali and Bamburi within the next two months,” said Wanyoike. “We are also exploring areas with good networks of independent riders, allowing us to partner with brick and mortar businesses to provide consumers in those areas with on-demand delivery of food, groceries and other home essentials.”
