Badili, a Kenyan based start-up that buys and sells used smartphones has raised $2.1 million pre-seed funding to scale its operations within Africa.
The Venture Catalysts, V&R Africa, Grenfell holdings, and SOSV, participated in the round, as did family offices and angel investors from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and India.
Badili carries out trade-ins and buybacks on behalf of major OEMs and phone dealers, and has so far, signed partnerships with key brands like Samsung. It buys devices from individuals too.
According to the latest research study by the Custom Markets Insights, the demand for global refurbished and used smartphones market size & share was valued at approximately USD 52.34 Billion in 2021.
And is expected to reach a value of around USD 146.43 Billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 11.45% during the forecast period 2022 to 2030.
Badili plans to explore new growth opportunities in West Africa, where it hopes to tap an increasing demand for affordable second-hand smartphones.
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They’ll also be scaling their operations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
“We are launching in Uganda and Tanzania and have established strong partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Within the next six months, we will be expanding to a few West African markets to get our foot in the door of some of the major markets in Africa,” said Rishabh Lawania (CEO), who co-founded the startup with Keshu Dubey (CTO) early this year.
According to Lawania, 60% of Badili customers are individuals upgrading from a feature phone to a smartphone, adding that devices sold by the startup cost less than half their original prices.
“We are providing an alternative to people who don’t want to pay full price for a device, and I am more excited about the fact that we are able to help a lot of consumers buy their first smartphone,” said Lawania.
How Badili Works
Badili buys the phones through its platform and network of shops and agents spread across the country.
It then uses its price estimation algorithm, that takes into account various factors including the age of the phone and model to calculate the value of the phone.
The phones are then revamped, repackaged and resold with one year warranty.
If you want to sell your smartphone via the platform, you’ll have to provide your ID, a mugshot and sign an affidavit stating that you are the rightful owner of the device. The also have a system in place to flag off frequent sellers.
Lawania also said that they are currently setting up and scaling technology systems, partnerships and networks needed to build Africa’s most trusted and biggest consumer electronics re-commerce marketplace.
