Jessica Boonstra, the founder of Yebo Fresh, began her adventure in her garage. Fast forward a few years, she has completed several rounds of financing and is positioning her startup in a niche e-commerce segment in South Africa. 

Yebo Fresh is an e-commerce solution developed by a South African startup. It enables grocery retailers in the townships of Cape Town and Johannesburg to stock up on food products from a mobile application or a web platform. The Cape Town-based startup was founded in 2018 by Jessica Boonstra. Since its launch, it has already raised around $5.5 million to accelerate its growth and diversify its offerings.

"The global e-commerce revolution should not only be accessible to a handful of South Africans, Yebo Fresh aims to extend this to the majority, and in so doing, accessing a huge untapped market. We use technology, innovative processes, and partnerships to make food shopping easier, cheaper, and safer and we assist in supporting healthier food options for our customers," said Jessica Boonstra.

The solution's mobile app is only available for Android devices. Once downloaded, users need to create an account to access the various services. They can make purchases and have them delivered to their store within 24 hours. In addition to ordering via the mobile application or web platform, it is also possible to place orders via WhatsApp. To do so, users need to send a list of groceries and follow an agent’s guidelines to complete the purchase. 

Yebo Fresh has also introduced a deferred payment system. This enables retailers to stock up and pay in installments until the amount due is settled. The company is rolling out that system thanks to a 78 million ($4.2 million) funding round. "The township market is developing rapidly, and we're proud to be at the forefront of its digital revolution," says Jessica Boonstra.

Adoni Conrad Quenum