Kelvin Bowoto
Four former Paystack senior managers are leaving the firm to launch GoLemon, a grocery and home item delivery service. Yinka Adewuyi, Gbadegbo Gbade-Oyelakin, Abdulrahman Jogbojogbo, and Abiola Showemimo were all early Paystack employees, having worked there for at least six years.
GoLemon’s CEO is Adewuyi, a former product lead at Paystack, and its CTO is Gbade-Oyelakin, who managed Paystack’s core platforms team. Jogbojogbo, Paystack’s marketing lead, will spearhead the company’s expansion, while Showemimo, one of Paystack’s initial ten workers, will oversee operations.
The startup, which distributes food and other supplies to homes and businesses, will compete with other well-funded companies like Glovo and Chowdeck, which are supported by YC. Mano and Pricepally are two popular options for supermarket delivery in Lagos.
GoLemon’s debut in the industry comes months after international behemoths like Jumia and Bolt abandoned the food and grocery delivery space last year.
Jumia’s CEO, Francis Dufay, blamed the decision to close Jumia Food on hard unit economics, large losses (Jumia Food never produced a profit in any of the 11 countries it operated in), and increased competition.
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While several major competitors are retreating, Jogbo believes now is the greatest moment to launch a grocery delivery service.
“It’s difficult to get started right now and get traction, but if we could weather the storm right now, I think we would have been able to build a formidable business,” Jogbojogbo said during a conference call.
He also stated that the team will grow the firm using Showemimo’s experience as a shop owner in Lagos and Gbade-Oyelakin’s experience as the head of engineering at Supermart, an online supermarket.
GoLemon’s unique proposition is that it handles its inventory and fulfillment centers, obtaining bulk items directly from growers and fast-moving consumer goods. Jogbojogbo told TechCabal that while GoLemon faces competition in some areas of its product offerings, it does not have an “end-to-end competitor.”
To attract a large consumer base, the firm has created a sourcing network that is directly connected to farmers and manufacturers, and it strives for the lowest feasible pricing. The firm primarily serves huge orders and was “intentionally designed around people who make repeat orders, repeat purchases, and large basket-size orders,” Jogbojogbo explained.
The announcement comes just weeks after a former Flutterwave vice president founded Mira, a foodtech business. YC has also increased its investment in foodtech firms, despite reducing its presence on the continent.
Techrectory with Agency Report.
