Ethiopia-based talent marketplace, Gebeya, has secured an undisclosed pre-Series A investment led by Inclusion Japan (ICJ), a Tokyo-based VC firm. The SaaS-enabled pan-African talent marketplace disclosed that the funding will be used to drive further growth and expansion across the continent.

Gebeya is headquartered in Addis Ababa with offices in Kenya and Senegal. The startup connects other startups, SMEs, and multinational corporations with vetted, skilled talent and professional services in more than 30 countries across Africa. 

According to data made available by the startup, Gebeya has raised various rounds of capital since its inception six years ago, including a $2 million round back in 2020 that made up part of a wider $4 million seed round.

Gebeya will use the funding to evolve from being a simple two-sided tech talent marketplace into being a provider of marketplaces under a “Marketplace-as-a-Service” model. 

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“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with ICJ and are confident that this investment will help us take our company to new heights. We are excited to see what the future holds and are committed to delivering the best possible products and services to our customers,” said Amadou Daffe, Gebeya’s CEO and co-founder.

“Gebeya has always thrived off of strong partnerships with like-minded firms who recognise Africa’s potential and that pooling resources is critical to achieving impact at scale.”

Yasuhiro Yoshizawa, director and co-founder at ICJ, said he was “delighted’ to be investing in Gebeya.

“As a fund manager with a us$100 million investment budget that will focus on the Africa region, I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to invest in Gebeya, which has the greatest potential in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.