Evaluating only Sokowatch (Wasoko)’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
MILESTONE
CRISIS
SHUTDOWN
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Documented cause
Sokowatch built a B2B ecommerce platform for informal retailers across East Africa, enabling daily deliveries of fast-moving consumer goods. It rebranded as Wasoko and raised $125M Series B in 2022. But expansion into Tanzania, Rwanda, Senegal and Ivory Coast stretched thin resources. Last-mile delivery costs in informal urban markets proved impossible to reduce at scale.
Lesson
“B2B FMCG distribution platforms must prove profitability in one city before expanding to a second country — capital does not fix logistics.”