NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 9 – Have you ever run out of cooking gas while cooking? If yes, the experience may have been awful.
This is a common problem experienced in a majority of Kenyan households day-in, day-out.
Unlike food and medicine, ordering a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) online is not as widespread; A few vendors offer online deliveries.
Like thousands, this is what Michael Rapudo went through and took upon himself to help others order gas seamlessly.
He launched iGas, an online marketplace that allows vendors and buyers to sell and buy gas products digitally.
“The LPG marketplace is currently very informal, customers struggle to find available reliable vendors, rigid payment options, no credit options for purchase, most vendors are unverified & untrustworthy,” Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rapudo tells Capital Business.
Rapudo, who holds a Bachelor’s degree, said it took two-years to build the solution.
Through the app, clients can order gas from different companies such as Total, K-Gas, AfriGas, Mpishi, ProGas, Gas Yetu, Men Gas,TaifaGas, HashiGas and most EDA Brands.
“All brands are available as long as they are accredited by the regulator,” he says.
Currently, the firm has signed up over 100-vendors, serving thousands of customers.
”We have over 100 vendors across Nairobi. We will be launching a vendor activation campaign soon across the country but most vendors can easily just visit our website – sign up and register their shops and start selling,” he says.
“We have had over 5000 transactions and (we) are growing.”
The company charges a 7 per cent commission per transaction.
With three co-founders, including Collins James (Backend Developer), Fedelis Murage (Frontend developer), Evans Mutuma, and Emmy Akinyi (UI/UX Designer/Marketing lead); Rapudo says initial capital came from bootstrapping, family and friends.
To scale up, he says that the firm is looking to raise capital from individual investors, venture firms or corporate entities.
“Currently open for funding options. Most funding is for further product development, aggressive marketing and scaling up,” he adds.
“We are open to discussions with corporate oil marketers and Gas companies for partnerships in funding, gas marketing, distribution, sales and delivery options (for petrol stations).”
They are planning to collaborate with a financial institution to develop a fintech solution that will enable customers to register for an iGas wallet, enabling them to save, top up other wallets , purchase gas easier, develop a credit history upon which we will be able to offer them soft gas refill loans.
“Running a startup needs a clear vision, tenacity and resilience, I have learnt to have an open mind, be ready to adapt and come up with solutions fast, listen more, make merited decisions based on data and overall strengthen my faith with God.”
“It’s greatly satisfying to see an idea I conceptualized come to life and impact lives.”
With around 700 million people without access to clean cooking energy, he says his mission is to scale iGas across the continent going forward.
“Technology is the next frontier for future African business, it’s our only way to catch up with the rest of the world economically, my urge to local investors is to start diversifying their investment options into tech spaces – the returns are calculated and good.”
