Kune which is a food startup based in Kenya, will be closing its operations less than a year after its launch. The company which is the newest addition to the growing list of food tech companies closing calling it quits in the country, reached the decision because funds became significantly harder to secure.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Kune; Robin Reecht made it known via a LinkedIn post that, “Sad day. Kune Food closed down today. With the current economic downturn and investment markets tightening up, we were unable to raise our next round. Coupled with rising food costs deteriorating our margins, we just couldn’t keep going.”
Kune was able to raise an impressive pre seed funding of 1 million United States Dollars (USD) which is around 117.8 million Kenyan Shillings. It also borrowed an unspecified amount from a bank operating in Kenya.
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The pre seed funding for Kune was spearheaded by Launch Africa Ventures which is a pan-African venture capital company. It also included participation from Consonance and Century Oak Capital GmbH.
Kune Food first began as an internet based kitchen or online restaurant with the goal of making freshly made meals available to consumers at super friendly prices. After its unsuccessful effort to increase more capital; 3.5 million United States Dollars (USD) which is around 412.3 million Kenyan Shillings in a bid to compete successfully in the current market, the startup had to opt for using Glovo, Bolt Food, and Uber Eats to deliver their orders to users.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Kune; Robin Reecht stated that Kune Food sold more than 55,000 meals, hit 100 corporate customers and over 6,000 individuals customers since its launch in 2021. He added that, “But at $3 per meal, it just wasn’t enough to sustain our growth. Many things could have been done differently, better certainly. The coming months will allow us to reflect on Kune’s failure, and I hope to share about it when the time will be right.”
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In 2021 Venture Capitalists made substantial investments into logistics companies and health tech companies. A lot of startups were however unable to raise more funding beyond the Series A round. Although both sectors were being viewed as the next big things in Africa after Fintech startups, observers believe they have become victims of their own success.
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