About Kola

We're building a better way for African businesses to sell.

Millions of businesses across Africa already sell through conversations, social media, and word of mouth. Kola gives them the tools to turn those everyday interactions into a real business.

Kola
online
Type a message
Why we built Kola

Selling shouldn't be this complicated.

For many businesses, selling starts with a message.

A customer asks for a price. You send a photo. They ask if it's available. You send your account details. They send a payment screenshot. You arrange delivery. Then you try to remember everything for the next customer.

It works when you have a few customers.

As your business grows, it becomes harder to keep up.

We built Kola to make that process simpler.

Instead of managing every order manually, businesses can give customers a place to browse, order, pay, and track their purchases while the merchant manages everything from one place.

Built for how businesses actually sell.

We don't believe African businesses need to copy the way businesses sell everywhere else.

Businesses here already have customers on WhatsApp. They already use social media to showcase products. They already take bank transfers. They already work with local delivery riders.

So we built around those habits instead of asking businesses to abandon them.

Kola connects the tools businesses already use and gives them a simpler way to run everything together.

What we believe

Simplicity

Business software shouldn't require a technical background. If you can use WhatsApp, you should be able to run your online store.

Speed

From setting up a store to receiving an order and getting paid, everything should feel fast and straightforward.

Trust

Businesses need to know where their money is, what has been ordered, and what happens next. We build with security and transparency in mind.

Accessibility

The best tools shouldn't be reserved for businesses with developers, designers, or large teams.

Local-first

We build for the realities of African businesses, starting with Nigeria and expanding from there.

Partners

Built with the right partners.

Monnify logo

Monnify (Moniepoint)

Payment processing and fund settlement.

WhatsApp logo

WhatsApp (Meta)

Customer communication, notifications, and commerce experiences.

Powered by AI

AI helps automate repetitive parts of selling, from answering customer questions to helping manage order flows, so merchants can spend more time running their businesses.

We're building for the next million businesses.

The future of commerce in Africa won't be built by asking businesses to become something they're not.

It will be built by giving them better tools to do what they already do, only faster, simpler, and at a much bigger scale.

That's what we're building at Kola.

Get in touch

Have a question, need help getting started, or want to work with us?

Ready to start selling online?

Create your store, share it with your customers, and start taking orders today.

Kola merchant dashboard