When Deepankar Rustagi last raised money for OmniRetail in 2022, excitement was high for African startups addressing the supply chain and operational challenges in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. At one point, these startups received more capital than all sectors, except fintech.

Recently, though, the industry’s enthusiasm and venture capital’s interest have faded, as various business models have struggled under mounting pressure.

Yet for Rustagi, OmniRetail isn’t just another B2B commerce platform; it’s an ambitious effort to reshape informal retail across Nigeria and West Africa using technology and embedded finance in a scalable, profitable way. Now, that vision has received further endorsement with a $20 million Series A equity funding round. This capital will help OmniRetail expand its presence in Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast, while deepening its focus on embedded finance products.

The round was co-led by Norwegian development finance institution Norfund and Lagos-based VC firm Timon Capital, with follow-on participation from Ventures Platform, Aruwa Capital, Goodwell Investments (via Alitheia Capital), and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

This marks Norfund’s first direct equity investment in an African startup, and according to Rustagi, puts OmniRetail on a path to dominating in a segment where others have struggled to grow profitably. OmniRetail has raised $38 million in equity and debt since its inception in 2019. 

OmniRetail’s model digitizes order management for 145 manufacturers, more than 5,800 distributors and services over 150,000 informal retailers across 12 cities in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Retailers use the app to order inventory, access working capital, and make digital payments. In the background is a third-party logistics network of over 1,100 vehicles and distributed warehousing capacity managed by 85 local logistics partners. 

OmniRetail’s asset-light strategy has been important in hitting profitability. In 2023, the Lagos-based B2B e-commerce platform became EBITDA positive. In 2024, it turned net profitable. A similar story is unfolding in Egypt, where another B2B e-commerce platform, Cartona, owes its push toward profitability to the model.

Both CEOs have noted that Africa’s informal market is vast and made up of suppliers and distributors that don’t need to be displaced or competed against, but rather made more efficient with the tech tools provided by their platforms.

“The profitability journey was an outcome of our efficiency on utilizing the assets that we aggregated in the network, and this has proven that the model that we put together as a ‘network of networks’ is profitable and is highly scalable, Rustagi said. “That’s the reason we went ahead and raise the capital to finally put the metal on the pedal and scale in more geographies and in more categories. We’re expanding now not just to grow, but to optimize.”

Better occupancy in warehousing, smarter logistics routes, and deeper category penetration will all improve margins, he added.

Rustagi, in a conversation with TechCrunch, alongside OmiRetail’s head of investment, Archit Bagaria, further explained that the company’s progress also lies in a deep understanding of the FMCG retail ecosystem, with the entire leadership team boasting decades of experience.

According to them, it affords a unique advantage of understanding how the value chain works, who the key players are, and where the gaps in visibility exist.

“For years, goods have been moving from point A to point B, but the lack of transparency has hindered financial inclusion and caused inefficiencies in the process,” said Bagaria. “By building an ecosystem that streamlines this entire landscape, we can solve these problems.”

Once a startup reaches critical mass, Bagaria adds, it becomes easier to layer additional services, such as payments and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), on top of its existing infrastructure. “Our approach has been different from others, and we believe we’ve found success with this model,” Bagaria added.

Unlike other startups that jumped into offering credit products too early or mistimed the launch, OmniRetail waited until it had significant distribution scale and data. Thanks to this strategy, Omnipay processed over ₦1.3 trillion in transactions last year, with Omnipay, its BNPL product disbursing ₦19 billion monthly in inventory credit, boasting near-zero defaults.

Acquiring Nigeria-based merchant solution platform Traction Apps in 2024 further strengthened OmniRetail’s strategy. Traction provides full-stack payment capabilities, including POS terminals, PSSP and Super Agent licenses, and access to retailer-level sales data. For OmniRetail, the purchase allows it to gain a complete financial profile of each retailer, giving it even greater control over the supply chain and the ability to offer tailored financial solutions.

“Every transaction in the FMCG value chain has two sides: the movement of goods and the movement of funds,” said Rustagi. “Today, we are in a position to aggregate maximum benefits from every transaction in the value chain, whether it’s sourcing goods efficiently, facilitating payments, or providing working capital and value-added services like marketing for the retailer. Our plan is to dive deep into the value chain and maximize margins. International players have done well in their markets, and we’re bringing that model to Nigeria today.”

While it no longer publicly discloses GMV figures, shifting away from the metric that has long been a key performance indicator in the sector,  it reports a 35% increase in net merchandise volume (NMV) and a 40% bump in revenue over the past year, all while maintaining profitability despite its expansion.

With $20 million in fresh capital, OmniRetail plans to continue growing its retailer base and expand into new product categories like personal care, home care, and cold storage. The capital will also be used to upgrade its infrastructure, enhance its credit underwriting tools, and strengthen partnerships with domestic debt providers. A local debt raise is already underway to scale its loan book, according to Bagaria.

For Norfund, OmniRetail represents more than just a fintech or commerce bet; it’s infrastructure.

“Embedded finance is one of the most transformative tools for small business growth in Africa,” said Norfund Investor Director Cathrine Conradi. “OmniRetail’s model brings capital to areas where traditional systems haven’t reached.”

Timon Capital, which backed OmniRetail from its seed stage, sees this as a breakout moment for the company.

“OmniRetail has now hit an inflection point in distribution, payments, and credit, showing just how much profitable growth they can generate with their expanding footprint,” the firm sakd.