Shoe etailer Heels.com.ng secures investment, hopes to ride ecommerce wave

Nigerian online designer shoe shop Heels.com.ng has secured an investment from Kernel Fund, a regional seed stage investment fund.

Both Kernel Fund and Heels.com.ng are not at liberty to disclose any specific figures, but Kernel Fund Manager Ade Ajayi has noted that the fund usually invests between US$25 000 and US$50 000 in individual funding rounds.

Heels.com.ng was founded by avid entrepreneur and angel investor Ikenna Okonkwo and technologist Udoka Uzoka, currently the CEO and CTO respectively.

With its selection of designer shoes at affordable prices and a big focus on digital marketing, the company hopes to ride on the ecommerce hype currently brewing in the country, while mirroring the likes of the US-based, Zappos, which has shown impressive growth over the years.

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As noted on the site, Kernel says that “Interesting startups must have at least a minimum viable product backed by strong customer development and rounds of successful testing of a defensible business model. We are interested in businesses whose customers are consumers or the enterprise.”

Since moving from beta phase, Heels.com.ng is said to have more than doubled its revenues by offering customers a fresh assortment of shoes on a weekly basis. With about 20% quarter to quarter growth for the last three quarters Heels.com.ng expects to achieve 110% growth over comparable period last year.

As the case with most many ecommerce players, the online marketplace provides quality at great value and is expanding their approach into being a third party marketplace where local shoe designers and others who have a retail presence, can create an online channel for products and expand their customer base. Heels.com.ng’s focus on operations and customer service also hopes to be a huge differentiator as an ecommerce player.

By providing customers with cash on delivery payment option, Heels.com.ng has been able to reach underserved customers with its strong commitment to being the Nigerian shoe store in 2015.

“With startups that meet our criteria, we aim to provide seed capital and strategic advisory with the aim of delivering stellar growth, sustainable returns and access to later rounds of capital in order to continue a successful growth trajectory,” the fund notes. “By pairing our capital with strong strategic advisory we aim to increase the odds of success for the founding teams.”