Daba Facilitates BuuPass's Funding Through Managed Investment Vehicle and Institutional Network

2 min Read November 20, 2023 at 11:36 AM UTC

FUNDRAISING CASE STUDY

Company Name: BuuPass

About the Company

BuuPass operates an online booking platform for bus, train, and flight tickets in East Africa. Their marketplace makes travel booking more convenient.

– Online travel booking marketplace, founded in 2019

– Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya

– Sectors: Bus, train, flight tickets

– Business model: B2B2C

Sonia Kabra, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, has 8 years experience in transport and impact investing.

Wycliffe Omondi, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, previously consulted for the World Bank on African transportation.

Fundraising: The Daba Advantage

Daba enabled BuuPass to raise funds from both retail and institutional investors:

Retail via Direct SPV investment:

BuuPass aimed to access capital from Daba’s expansive retail investor base and went through our meticulous investment screening process. Upon approval, they were listed live on the Daba application, and we initiated capital calls. It’s pivotal to highlight that all funds were consolidated into a single SPV, ensuring that Daba made a singular, streamlined entry on the cap table.

Institutional via Daba Institutional Investor Network:

While Daba facilitated the initial introduction, we ensured BuuPass and investors had the forefront in the subsequent dialogues. This approach proved fruitful as, upon successful investment from Kompass Ventures, BuuPass remunerated Daba with a pre-determined success fee, correlating with the significant amount invested. This underscores our effective strategy in bridging startups with potential investors.

Investment Overview

– Minimum investment: $500 per retail investor via Daba

– Total raised: $1.3 million pre-seed round

– Lead investors: Founders Factory Africa, FrontEnd Ventures, Kompass Ventures

Impact of the fundraising round

The capital will support BuuPass’s growth in Kenya and Uganda. They plan to expand their team and build infrastructure to scale across Africa. Leveraging Daba’s platform and network, BuuPass efficiently raised necessary expansion capital from a diverse group of investors.

From the BuuPass CEO

“Daba was an essential and very useful partner in our capital raise. Their service accelerated our fundraising. Would highly recommend Daba to any startup looking to access retail and institutional capital”