Nigeria B2B FMCG distribution startup backed by Matrix Partners India that raised $10M before mass layoffs exposed the informal retailer credit model as unworkable.
Evaluating only Alerzo’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Unit economics as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Alerzo founded
DOWN ROUND
Down round or bridge financing
SHUTDOWN
Mass Layoff Spiral: Alerzo ceases operations
Full Analysis
Free · no account needed
Documented cause
Alerzo built a B2B platform supplying FMCG products to informal retailers (mama-put shops and kiosks) across Nigeria, raising $10M from Matrix Partners India. The company extended credit to informal retailers who had no formal credit history, built a field sales force, and operated a cold chain. Rising Nigerian inflation in 2022-2023 eroded the purchasing power of its retailer customers, increasing default rates on credit extended. Mass layoffs across operations and technology teams in 2023 signaled the end of the company's growth ambitions.
Lesson
“Nigerian informal retail distribution faces the same fundamental problem as every other African B2B FMCG play: extending credit to merchants with no formal collateral in a high-inflation economy creates compound default risk that unit economics cannot absorb.”