On its website, Monex, Inc. created a page for curation that summarizes the funds based on ESG and SDGs that is an important investment topic going forward. This page provides information for customers who are retail investors.

Monex Ventures invests in Africa Incubator Ltd. (Afri-inc)

Monex Ventures, a venture capital firm in the group, has bought a stake in Afri-inc, which provides the SaaS business management tool, called SENRI, tailored to the manufacturing/distribution sectors in Africa.
Afri-inc turned the distribution process, including sales order management, into SaaS in the region characterized by peculiar business circumstances where distribution through traditional small-sized retail outlets is predominant, unlike in Japan. Thereby, it has successfully boosted efficiency in sales operations of clients that deployed SENRI by over 20%. SENRI, which was planned and developed in Japan and features well-thought-out design unique to that by Japanese people, has ensured a competitive edge over local competitors. Afri-inc is a startup that will not only expand its business area but attempt to increase the efficiency of the distribution process further by adding features, such as payment functionality, to the sales order management capability down the road.

The main reason Monex Ventures decided to invest in the firm was it placed high expectations on the potential social impact, which contributes to Africa’s economic development, services excelling in UI or UX Afri-inc produces thanks to its high product development capacity create, and the size of an expected return on investment as a result.
Another great incentive was that as the existing distribution process in Africa becomes digitized through the power of technology, it can be highly anticipated that various data will be visualized and operations will be streamlined, allowing the firm to drive an efficient expansion of the distribution network, which has been difficult to attain, and play a part in developing the African economy.

Afri-inc was launched in Uganda, where the market was small and it was easier to assess the feasibility of business. After chalking up a track record there, it made a foray into neighboring Kenya, where the market was large. With capital it obtained through this investment, it has extended its operating area to Nigeria that boasts the fastest-growing economy in West Africa. This will in turn help develop the regional economy through bolstering local manufacturers’ sales force. Furthermore, from a job creation standpoint, it has generated nearly 20 local jobs, including Japanese staff, directly and job creating effects among its clients, i.e., the local manufacturing and distribution industries, indirectly.