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Treepz Launches Treepz Kenya as it Continues African Expansion Plan
The award-winning African Mobility Startup, Treepz has announced the successful launch of Treepz Kenya following strategic investment deals to raise additional $1.2m over the last 12 months.
Treepz which was founded in September 2019 in Nigeria, has announced today that it has further expanded its operations in East Africa, with a focus on Kenya, just over a year after launching in Uganda and Ghana. With the launch of Treepz Kenya, it is the company’s 4th country where it operates from in 3 years.
This new expansion follows investments made in Treepz in the last couple of months led by GIIG Africa Fund along with MoAngels, Roselake VC, Unpopular VC, Goodwater Capital and BKR Capital.
There were also follow on investments from Treepz current investors including ShockVentures, Winston Limited led by the Lynch Brothers, Aston Investments and Novum Actus led by Clara Ogunsemi.
With the launch of its Kenyan service in Nairobi and later in Mombasa, the team at Treepz is also excited to welcome Mr. Samar Patel as its new Country Manager for Treepz Kenya.
Mr. Patel brings on 18 years wealth of sales, transportation and technology experience to the role, having most recently held a similar position with SWVL Kenya. Under his leadership, it is expected that Treepz Kenya will continue to grow and innovate in the region.
In recent times, Treepz has had a strong focus on vehicle rental service or what the company refers to as Business Treepz. This move has also led to Treepz Kenya signing up a couple of high-profile companies to provide commuting service for their employees or students. These companies includes reputable firms like Twiga Foods, Abacus Schools, OAK House School, Diamond Trust Bank, with 20 big-name deals across Kenya in the pipeline.
These partnerships demonstrate the growing demand for Treepz’s innovative solutions especially with vehicle rental services for businesses, and the company is confident that this trend will continue as it expands its reach.
Commenting on the announcement, Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO of Treepz, says: “We are thrilled by the addition of Samar to our team and the launch of Treepz Kenya in Nairobi.
“This was made possible with the support we received from our current investors amid a turbulent 2022. Also, after winning the GSA African Award in Cape Town last year, we received funding from it’s funding arm – GIIG Africa Fund and that was also very timely for us.
“Today, our efforts are focused on building a centralised solution across the 4 countries we operate in and to provide Africans with excellent mobility services, for their personal and business needs. We hope this will be the experience Kenyans will enjoy with our service and remember, as we build a world-class mobility business for Africans and the rest of the world”.
GIIG Africa’s investment into Treepz comes as the startup was named the Africa Winner in the ‘IndustrialTech’ category at the 2022 African Startup Awards – the largest independent startup ecosystem competition on the continent and exclusive vehicle for the GIIG Africa Fund to find, fund and scale Africa’s most innovative startups with Sustainable Development Goal-aligned solutions.
In doing so, GIIG Africa now joins the long list of Treepz’s investment partners, which include the likes of Techstars, Google, Orbit Startups, LoftyInc, Niche Capital, ODBA, Microtraction, Crossfund, Uncovered Funds and Jedar Capital, among others.
While not as widely regarded as sectors such as fintech, mobility tech has attracted significant attention from investors in recent years. According to the latest ‘Africa Tech Venture Capital’ report by Partech, the vertical accounted for US$ 195 million (or 4%) of total funding for African startups in 2022 – putting it on-par with health-tech (US$181-million) and ahead of the ed-tech and agri-tech sectors (US$97-million and US$86-million respectively).
This figure is expected to grow as demand for transportation increases amid Africa’s booming population growth and rising rates of urbanization.
“You’ve also got to factor in trans-national developments such as the African Continental Free Trade Area,” says Jo Griffiths, Co-Founder of GIIG Africa.
“These policies will result in a significant increase in the movement of people, goods and services – and as such – there’s going to be an even greater demand in the coming years for mobility solutions built for the African context.
“As investors, we’re excited to be working with the team behind Treepz because we see mobility-tech as a key enabling factor for Africa’s socio-economic growth.
For now, we look forward to supporting their efforts aimed at empowering Kenyan commuters.”
In a bid to fast-track the impact of technology on African growth, Griffiths adds that applications to the next round of the African Startup Awards are now open, with innovators from across the continent encouraged to apply before 26 February 2023, for their chance to receive funding from the GIIG Africa Fund.
Glovo, a multi-category tech company, has announced its integration into the generative AI ecosystem with the launch of its “Shopping Assistant” for ChatGPT and Claude. Users can now discover retail products, compare prices, and seamlessly order any item using natural conversational language with the AI systems.
The Glovo experience inside such platforms introduces a conversational commerce model that shifts from a search-based web to an intent-based web. Rather than navigating traditional app menus and filters, users can express needs, such as asking for a “last-minute gift for a coffee lover under ₦50,000”, and the assistant handles semantic search, location validation, and product curation.
A Seamless, Concierge-Like Experience
Once both platforms have been connected through either ChatGPT or Claude apps, the user will be able to have a multi-turn dialogue where the assistant remembers context and constraints, such as budget caps. Users receive a visual carousel of up to five highly customised product options available at local stores. Each product displays its image, name, store details and ratings, and price. While the search and discovery experience takes place directly on the Generative AI platforms, selecting a product via the “view on Glovo” button takes the user to the Glovo mobile or web app, where the payment and final purchase are exclusively completed.
Strategic Focus on Retail and Growth
Glovo is prioritising the retail and grocery sectors for this initial launch, capturing the established habit of using AI for product research. Generative AI has driven a significant jump in retail traffic globally, so this first-mover advantage aims to meet customers where they are meeting Gen AI daily, and ensure it captures high-intent organic traffic as search behaviours evolve.
“We’re always looking for ways to meet our customers where they already are. Being available on Claude and ChatGPT means people can discover what Glovo has to offer as part of a natural conversation, with no friction. Glovo has always been about being the everyday app that provides choice and convenience, and this is another step in that direction”, said Shiro Theuri, Chief Technology Officer at Glovo.
How to look for products in the Glovo app through ChatGPT or Claude
- The user must sync ChatGPT or Claude with the Glovo app with the plug-in.
- Once synced, the user must type in @glovo followed by their request.
- The AI platform displays a carousel with 5 available options for the user.
- If the user wants to purchase any of the products or continue searching within the Glovo app, they must click “View on Glovo”, which will redirect the user to the Glovo app or website.
- After the order is confirmed, the store will prepare the item(s) and the courier will head up to the pick-up location. The user will receive the order in minutes.
Southeast Asia cybercrime networks are expanding operations into Africa as crackdowns intensify in the subregion, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The massive, unintended geographic shift triggered by intense pressure from international task forces in Myanmar and Cambodia,have seen highly sophisticated criminal networks now establishing footholds in major tech hubs across Kenya and Nigeria, transforming local technical talent into accomplices for industrial-scale digital theft as reported by https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/
This strategic migration represents a critical evolution in the $17 billion crypto scam economy.
Transnational scam syndicates are organized criminal networks that run industrial-scale online fraud using trapped or trafficked labor.
The UNODC has documented this diversification, noting that African nations are increasingly targeted as operational bases due to robust internet infrastructure and a surplus of unemployed tech workers.
In response, local authorities are engaged in a frantic game of catch-up against well-funded foreign cartels.
Recall that in 2025, UNODC, described the shift as part of a broader trend in which crime “spreads like a cancer,” into regions with weaker enforcement and limited digital safeguards.
The report pointed to the rapid proliferation of online fraud operations, including cryptocurrency scams and phishing schemes, moving from countries like Myanmar and Cambodia into new footholds in Africa—particularly Nigeria.
A recent case publicized June 12, 2025 by the WeChat public account West Africa Chinese Voice illustrates the trend: Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 177 Chinese nationals in Lagos and Abuja between December 2024 and January 2025.
The suspects were allegedly running scam centers under the guise of corporate offices, where local Nigerians were trained to carry out online investment frauds—many following the “pig-butchering” model, which builds trust with victims before luring them into fraudulent crypto investments.
Authorities seized hundreds of SIM cards, high-performance computers, and prewritten scam scripts during the raids
Ugochukwu Eze, a 47 year-old man, was on Thursday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to steal a total of N800m.
Ugochukwu also known as Amazon, was arraigned before the court by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).
DSS accused Ugochukwu of fraudulently hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to remove and divert the sum of N800 million into several accounts in other financial institutions.
M. Bajela,prosecuting counsel, DSS, in the charges filed before the court alleged that the defendant and others now at large, between 2023 and 2026, conspired among themselves and unlawfully and seriously hindered the function of Suntrust Bank Plc’s computer system server and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800 million belonging to the bank.
Ugochukwu was also accused of concealing and transferring various sums of money traced to the unlawful cyber-attacks to some account in some financial institutions.
The offences alleged to have been committed by the defendant according to the prosecutor contravened sections 5; 6(1) and 8 of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2024. And Sections 10, 20 and 18(2)(D) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
Based on his plea of not guilty, the prosecutor asked the court for a trial date, and prayed the court to remand the defendant in the facility of the correctional services pending the time trial will commence.
However, E. Afrogha, defendant’s lawyer, told the court that she has filed her client’s bail application. adding that her client has been in the DSS custody for over a month.
But the prosecution counsel told the court that he has not been served with the bail application, not withstanding that his witnesses are available.
Based on the counsels’ submissions, Justice Friday Ogazi, presiding judge, adjourned the matter to August 24,2026 for hearing of the bail application.
The judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) pending the hearing of the bail application.
One of the counts against the defendant reads: “That you UGOCHUKWU EZE (AKA AMAZON) (M) (47 YEARS) sometime between 2023 and 2026 in Lagos, and other places within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, unlawfully seriously hindered the function of SunTrust Bank Plc’s computer system, and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800, 000,000.00 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) belonging to the said SunTrust Bank thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc.) Act, 2024.”
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