In 2023, we watched talented, hardworking Kenyan entrepreneurs run entire businesses from WhatsApp DMs and M-Pesa screenshots. We decided that was unacceptable. So we fixed it.
Our CEO Brian Gitonga spent a week in 2023 shadowing sellers at Gikomba Market, Westlands, and CBD Nairobi — watching how they actually ran their businesses. What he saw was painful.
Brilliant entrepreneurs. Quality products. Real demand. But their entire "system" was: a WhatsApp group for orders, a screenshot for payment proof, a notebook for inventory, and a prayer that customers would actually pay.
Foreign platforms like Shopify exist — but they do not support M-Pesa natively, price in USD, require a developer to set up, and are built for Western markets. Kenyan sellers were left out.
Greatr was our answer: a professional commerce platform built specifically, completely, obsessively for Kenyan sellers.
These are not values on a poster. They are the lens we use to make every product decision, hiring decision, and business decision.
We don't port foreign products to Kenya. We build from scratch, for Kenyans — M-Pesa at the core, mobile-first design, deep market knowledge from Gikomba to Westgate.
We charge a flat fee and zero commission on purpose. When our sellers make more money, everyone wins. We will never take a percentage of your hard-earned sales.
Every feature we build gets judged by one question: "Can a first-time smartphone user figure this out in 2 minutes?" If not, we go back to the drawing board.
We're building infrastructure for generations, not a flip. Greatr will be the backbone of African e-commerce long after current trends have come and gone.
From a parking lot conversation to powering hundreds of millions of shillings in Kenyan commerce.
Greatr born after a week shadowing small-business sellers in Gikomba and Westlands — watching them lose real money to WhatsApp chaos every single day.
Launched private beta. First ever automatic M-Pesa payment confirmed at 2:17 AM on a Friday. The whole team was awake to see it. We celebrated like it was midnight on New Year's Eve.
Expanded beyond Nairobi to Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Eldoret. Launched AI product descriptions in English and Swahili. Sellers started comparing us to Shopify.
Half a billion shillings through Kenyan seller stores with zero commission taken. Launched 130 professional templates. Crossed 1,400 active stores.
Launching in Uganda, Tanzania, and Ghana — because African sellers everywhere deserve tools built for them, not retrofitted for them.
A small, obsessive team that spends more time talking to sellers than sitting in meetings.
Co-Founder & CEO
Former Safaricom product manager. Watched his sister lose KES 80K in WhatsApp order chaos in one month. That was the moment Greatr became non-negotiable.
Co-Founder & CTO
Previously built payments infrastructure at Cellulant. Her obsession: making M-Pesa integration so invisible that sellers never have to think about payments again.
Head of Seller Success
Ran a fashion boutique on Greatr for 6 months before joining the team. Now he helps every new seller get to their first sale — using knowledge nobody else has.
We are hiring. If you are obsessed with making Kenyan businesses succeed, we want to meet you.
View open roles →1,400+ sellers have already made the switch. Every day, more choose a professional store over WhatsApp chaos. Today could be your turn.
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