Bosso, a Zambian construction e-commerce platform that brings solutions to the African construction and building industry, has closed its US$400k pre-seed funding round to continue the platform’s further development and expansion of its functionality.
Bosso was started in 2022 by Chisepo Chirwa, Mukopaje Singogo, Ibn Kafwanka and Salwa Shamapande and is Zambia’s biggest platform for contractors and hardware stores to buy and sell construction material online. It positively impacts the construction fraternity as it offers quality and affordable construction materials to every person at any location in Zambia.
“What initially began as an online marketplace that streamlined the sourcing of building materials for hardware stores, has evolved into a holistic B2B and B2C solution to address the 60 million housing deficit across Africa,” said Chirwa, Bosso’s CEO.
The startup is currently connected with more than 1,000 hardware stores in Zambia, has provided more than 200 homebuilders with the source material, and has supplied construction materials to four out of the 10 provinces in Zambia. Pre-seed funding, valued at US$400,000, was provided to Vinci by Leonard, Launch Africa Ventures, Renew Capital and Change-Com alongside various angel investors; this funding will be employed to the expansion of existing operations in the home market and, additionally, to the construction of new products.
Chirwa stated that for the remaining part of this year and the entire 2025, Bosso will upload the two years of data that they have already collected into their AI technology with an aim of reducing inefficiencies across the sector. He highlighted that a new platform in the pipelines that offers material plus additional complementary services is already in place. Services including land transfer, financing, “save now pay later,” and acquisition of construction firms.
According to him, Bosso would embark on sourcing for materials for over 5,000 homes in 2025, and in August, make its seed open.
“The housing crisis is real, and Africa needs a Bosso tackling this issue because everyone deserves decent and affordable housing. We want to bring our mission to the entire continent, starting with Southern Africa, as well as launch a new AI building materials assistant to accelerate our solution.”
