Nigerians wishing to avoid the shoving stress that comes with shopping in the market particularly during festive seasons has been thrown a lifeline with the launch of Sarelo, a Nigerian online market assistant.
Sarelo which emerged as one of the 10 successful tech start-ups from the Next Economy Accelerator was launched officially on Wednesday 13th December. Its mission is to help Lagosians manage their time productively by relieving customers of the stress of going to the market for fresh foodstuff.
“Sarelo is for a person who loves to cook with fresh organic foodstuff but is faced with the challenge of too little time or put off by the stress of going to the market,” said Yemisi Akinseye, an Accounting graduate of Yaba College of Technology and founder of Sarelo, “The reality is that most people will like to prepare their meals with the freshest market produce. However, Lagos is such a busy and tough city, and the nature of jobs and adopted lifestyle does not allow this. Through Sarelo, this is the solution we are solving. We want Lagosians to be able to enjoy fresh foodstuff at the best prices delivered to their doorsteps.”
Sarelo may be coming into a space already occupied by big player such as Supermart.ng, foodstantly.com and sofreshng.com. BusinessDay was able to track down Yemisi Akinseye inside a Lagos popular fresh tomato market.
“The difference is that I am a market assistant. I am your eye. I shop for you and I am not selling to you,” Akinseye told BusinessDay.
Interestingly, Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), Nigeria’s leading social innovation centre, provides incubation support for Sarelo.
“Making life better is at the heart of our mission at CcHUB, and this is what makes Sarelo an exciting venture to support,” said Bosun Tijani, CEO and co-founder, CcHUB, “Sarelo has identified and is meeting a need that is all too real to the average Lagosian. We are excited to watch the progress Sarelo makes in the coming years.”
Sarelo is open taking orders via its website www.sarelo.com.ng.
