Kenyan startup Eneza Telecom is helping SMEs in the country run more efficiently with the help of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, and is in the process of raising a seed round to expand its customer base.
Based in Nairobi, Eneza Telecom offers cloud-based, affordable and easy-to-use ERP systems for SMEs, associations and non-profit organisations. Its comprehensive ERP software package integrates the complete range of a business’ processes and functions in order to present a holistic view of the business.
Users can interface with the Eneza Business Suite through web, app or USSD. The ERP solution is built modularly, which allows businesses to use tools independently but also merge them together, giving businesses flexibility when it comes to utilising Eneza’s modules, which at this point are Accounting, Payroll, HRM, Messaging (Communication), Sacco, Survey, a Loan Management System, and a Cash Management System.
The startup was founded in September 2018 by Peter Muraya, George Njuguna, Cosmas Mulumba, Wilson Kamau and Julius Githaiga after a realisation that many businesses in Kenya and Africa suffer from a lack of affordable and easy to use tools.
“We realised that businesses rely on fragmented software offerings, with the available software solutions for SMEs offered by different software organisations. SMEs often have to use multiple products, which increases their costs of administration and support,” Kamau told Disrupt Africa.
“Additionally, these isolated systems cannot handle complex information, do not allow automation or optimisation of business processes, and lead to data duplication.”
Eneza Business Suite, on the other hand, offers one dashboard that can be used to run all business processes from end-to-end. The startup currently has over 60 business customers using its platform, but plan to increase those numbers significantly.
“Eneza systems have played an integral role in transforming the way businesses gather and analyse data from across the business, helping them run smoother by unifying and protecting their information, automating processes, and producing easy to understand reports. This has been a key selling point for us since our services are tailor-made for all kinds of organisations – they don’t incur high upfront development costs, thereby uptake has been high,” said Kamau.
“We have partnered with several markets, including NPOs, horticulture, services, and the banking sector. The use of our systems has totally streamlined business functions and boosted productivity of our partners and clients over the long-term, thus making the implementation of Eneza systems a worthwhile investment of time and resources.”
Eneza’s objective is to be a market leader in the ERP systems space, and move into new markets, and to do that the currently self-funded startup is on the fundraising trail. Kamau said it was looking for US$250,000 in seed capital, and currently had US$30,000 committed.
“We are raising the funds primarily to hire new staff, especially new developers, and boost sales and marketing,” he said.
Eneza also has plans for regional expansion into the Tanzanian, Zambian and Ugandan markets.
“Our goal is to launch in Zambia by the first quarter of 2021. For Uganda and Tanzania, our target is to launch into these markets by the third quarter of 2021,” Kamau said.
Eneza has various revenue streams, which include charging fees for monthly subscriptions, system customisations, branded and bulk SMS, and loan disbursements, but has seen its revenue hit by COVID-19. Kamau nonetheless said it had made US$105,000 in revenue, and predicted “tremendous growth” in the coming year.
