Chpter 2.0 Foundations: Reflecting on Our Progress and Looking to the Future 🌍

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2025! 🎉

Exactly a year ago, in January 2024, we took a bold step forward by launching Chpter 2.0 — a reinvention of our business from social payments to AI-powered conversational commerce on WhatsApp and Instagram. This wasn’t a decision we made lightly; it was shaped by months of conversations with hundreds of businesses, big and small, digging deep into their challenges and aspirations.

Now, as we step into a new year, it feels like the perfect time to pause, reflect on our journey so far, and share how those insights have fueled our progress.

Where it started: From Payments to Conversational Commerce

When we started Chpter, our mission was clear: help online merchants in Africa accept payments on social platforms. Our fast payment links gained traction, with hundreds of merchants coming on board. But as we listened more closely to the businesses we served, one thing became evident: the payments space was crowded — it was a pain point that had solutions. Companies we admire, like Cellulant, Flutterwave, and Paystack, were already leading the charge.

We realized that to truly stand out, we needed to address a deeper problem — helping merchants grow their revenues in the spaces where most of their sales were happening: social media.

In late 2023, we shifted gears. Armed with insights from countless conversations, we set out to build something transformative: a platform that combines AI-powered tools with the simplicity of social media, enabling businesses to optimize their marketing, sales, and customer engagement.

This wasn’t just a change in direction; it was a renewed commitment to our mission. We also took a bold step by introducing a subscription-based revenue model (SaaS) alongside our transactional model — a move that challenged conventional wisdom about SaaS in Africa. Today, we’re starting to see that gamble pay off.

Why this is a great opportunity: The Rise of Social Commerce

Social platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook aren’t just for connecting with friends anymore — they’ve become thriving marketplaces, especially in emerging markets. For many businesses, these platforms are the easiest and most accessible way to reach customers. In social media, businesses can reach out to customers just like a friend.

But there’s a catch: businesses often lose up to 40% of their potential revenue to abandoned carts, largely due to slow response times.

That’s where Chpter comes in. Our AI-powered conversational commerce platform helps businesses automate sales, marketing, customer service, and payments — all within the social platforms their customers already use.

It’s about more than just technology; it’s about empowering businesses to grow, one conversation at a time.

How it’s going: Milestones of 2024

Looking back, 2024 was nothing short of transformative for Chpter. Here are some of the highlights:

• Partnership with Meta: We went live in Q1 after securing an integral partnership with Meta. Becoming an official Meta Business Partner enabled us to integrate and build advanced AI and business messaging/shopping solutions on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook — for businesses across the world.
• Podcast Launch: In Q2, we launched our official podcast, Chpter Champions — filming 25 episodes that gathered over 2 million views across multiple channels including Instagram and Tiktok.
• Safaricom Accelerator: In Q2, we also got selected as one of the 9 startups in the inaugural Safaricom Spark Accelerator Program. This partnership has been phenomenal thus far and potentially enables us to tap their distribution network into more than 5 million businesses they serve across M-PESA’s eight markets.
• Customer Wins: Over 50 new product updates later (that’s one feature per week in 2024), we closed Q4 with 1,002 businesses signed up. Some customers like African Yuva and Victoria Homestore have seen a 5x increase in their social media sales conversion since going live, while ALX Africa, Kicks Kenya, Decathlon and GALX Boy in South Africa have seen a 30x better ROI on Whatsapp marketing campaigns compared to SMS or email. These are just a few of the customer wins we are proud to mention.
• Product Progress: We are now enabling all our customers to turn on AI agents on WhatsApp and soon Instagram — that guide customers from initial engagement, through chat conversations to checkout/payment, and handle frequently asked questions and customer queries such as returns and fulfillment updates. We believe this innovation represents a significant step forward in how businesses engage with customers in the AI era.
• Capital Infusion: We closed $1.2M in pre-seed funding from incredible investors to fuel our mission; led by PANI, with participation from Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, ViKtoria Ventures, Ajim Capital and several angel investors.

While the work is far from done, 2024 was a year of sharp improvement at Chpter. Customer and revenue growth accelerated almost 10x this year, as we introduced our offering to businesses of all sizes in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

Each milestone reminds us of why we do what we do: to help businesses thrive in an ever-changing digital landscape.

Looking ahead into 2025: Scaling Without Boundaries

As we look to the year ahead, our focus is clear: double down on what’s working and take Chpter to the world.

We plan to be available in 10+ markets, with the goal of proving that our solution transcends borders. This year, we also aim to reach profitability — a critical step in building a sustainable, generational company.

At the same time, we’re committed to raising the bar on product quality, innovation, and customer acquisition. We’re not starting from scratch anymore; we’re building on a foundation of tested strategies, strong partnerships, and a growing community of businesses that believe in our vision.

To our customers, partners, and team: thank you for trusting us to be part of your journey. Every conversation, every challenge, and every success has shaped who we are today.

If you’d like to follow along as we continue to grow, please follow our LinkedIn page for updates. Interested in learning more about how Chpter can work for your business? Visit our website to learn more or sign up for a free trial today.

Here’s to a 2025 filled with growth, innovation, and new possibilities — together.

Tesh, Mark, Mesongo and Kuria