TSL Weekly Roundup #9

Tunde Kara’s journey from growing up on a farm to co-founding Vendease is a story of resilience, innovation, and passion. Hear his leap story...

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The Startup Leap
January 06, 2025

Tunde Kara: From Farming to Fintech; Building for Africa’s $780bn Food Market - Vendease

Dive into the full conversation on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Welcome back to The Startup Leap Newsletter—#RealTalk #RealLessons From Founders Who Took The Startup Leap 🚀

💡 This week, we’re diving into the story of Tunde Kara, the founder reshaping Africa’s $780 billion food market with his game-changing startup, Vendease.

From processing over 1 million tons of food to saving businesses $10 million in waste and providing $90 million in credit, Vendease is a testament to the power of solving real problems.

In our conversation, we explore:

  • Tunde’s personal connection to agriculture shaped his understanding of the challenges faced by small farmers (00:05:30),

  • How COVID-19 catalysed Vendease’s growth (00:27:00),

  • How Vendease leverages AI and data-driven logistics (00:44:50),

…and more!

Key takeaways:

  • Learn from Failure, Iterate Quickly (00:16:50): 

    Tunde highlights the importance of validating ideas early and not overbuilding an MVP.

    Vendease scrapped its first elaborate system and ran operations on spreadsheets for months.

    The lesson? Solve the core problem first—polished products can come later.


  • Distribution Over Product (00:19:00): 

    Don’t fall in love with your product—fall in love with your customers.


    Prioritise distribution and customer access to scale effectively, especially in emerging markets.


  • Systems That Scale (00:29:00): 

    Vendease’s long-term success lies in its ability to create ecosystems that solve multiple pain points—locking in users through reliability and value.


  • The Power of Network Effects (00:55:00): 

    Happy customers bring suppliers to the table.


    Vendease’s organic growth proves that solving real customer pain points can drive a self-reinforcing loop of marketplace value.

  TL;DR:  

  • Validate early—focus on solving problems over building perfection.

  • Scale by prioritising customer access over perfecting the product.

  • Create ecosystems that lock in users and solve end-to-end problems.

  • Satisfying customers fuels marketplace growth and supplier participation.


Want to hear more from Tunde? Tune in to the full conversation on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts—it’s the perfect listen for your commute!

🎥 Get a Glimpse of the Action Below…

🚀 What’s your biggest takeaway from Tunde’s journey? Share your thoughts with us on YouTube, LinkedIn or TikTok. 

Let’s keep the conversation going!

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TSL Team 💜