From Barbers To Therapists And Even Dentists, Tappi Is Wants To Help Businesses In Africa's Service Industry Earn Trust Online.

Kenfield Griffith, co-founder of tappi, a Kenyan end-to-end digital commerce SaaS platform, recognized the gap in digital solutions for service-based businesses, prompting him to create a platform tailored specifically for them. Launched in 2022 with Louis Majanja, tappi initially attempted to serve all types of businesses but quickly refined its focus on small and medium-sized service-based enterprises SMEs. Griffith observed that while merchandise businesses had digital tools to help them scale, service businesses lacked dedicated platforms to manage their operations effectively.

Tappi distinguishes itself by positioning itself as more than just a tool to digitize businesses. It aims to bring service-based businesses to the internet, making them discoverable and professional. This "on-ramp to the internet" helps businesses establish a trustworthy online presence, which Griffith believes is essential for gaining and retaining customers. Before onboarding businesses, tappi surveys them and provides a fully integrated website with a payment gateway, ensuring professionalism right from the start.

Service-based businesses, such as barbershops, often offer recurring services, making them less reliant on continuously finding new customers, in contrast to retail businesses. This recurring nature of services presents a significant opportunity in Africa's growing 5 billion food and services market. Since its launch, tappi has gained traction, processing 3.4 million in transactions and serving over 180,000 customers.

In December 2024, tappi raised 1.5 million in pre-seed funding to focus on three key areas expanding its sales presence, forging partnerships with banks and fintech companies, and strengthening its branding and marketing efforts. The company also partnered with Safaricom to support Kenya's MSMEs, leveraging M-PESAs network of 650,000 small businesses. Griffith and Majanja previously founded Ajua, which provided customer experience management solutions, but transitioned to tappi to better serve the informal SME market across Africa.