As Nigeria marked its 65th Independence anniversary, Nigerian tech startup VendCliq announced that it will officially unveil a new mobile & Point of sale application on October 23, 2025, in Lagos. The platform is niche-focused;designed for the continent’s high velocity beverage vending sector, where the quality of stocking decisions and liquidity determines a vendor’s profitability. Vendcliq’s product is built to empower vendors to make profitable stocking decisions and fund market opportunities as they arise.
Co-founded byJim Abba and Tolulope Adewumi, less than a year ago, Vendcliq is gaining attention for its mission to support the micro and small-scale vendors who form the backbone of Nigeria’s beverage economy. From the woman selling soft drinks at a roadside kiosk to the large distributor supplying depots, VendCliq’s new platform is designed to reduce business risks, open access to financing, and simplify day-to-day operations.
The African beverage industry is a 180 billion dollar market with about 30 thousand unique product SKUs. It is a high-volume industry with over $300 million worth of transactions per day, and it is highly fragmented. Vendors face challenges ranging from slow sales, largely contributed by poor stocking decisions inconsistent supply to lack of credit, high stock losses, and poor record-keeping. VendCliq’s app aims to close these gaps by combining financing, direct marketplace access, and artificial intelligence-powered insights into one seamless system.
At the heart of the platform is the VendCliq Marketplace, which connects vendors together, helping them to find new, verified suppliers and customers This means sellers can access the right drinks for their location without the hassle of relating with a physical markeplace or risking unsold inventory. With the added power of AI insights, vendors will be able to predict which products will move in their communities and stock accordingly, cutting business risk to below 3%.
The app will also include financing options of up to ₦50 million to fund market opportunities like price change, peak sales periods and seasonal promotion offers, supported by smart repayment systems that make it easier for vendors to expand operations without running out of stock. Through its integrated POS and smart reconciliation features, vendors can track daily transactions in real time, manage collections, and automatically balance accounts. This ensures that financing is tied to actual business performance, giving vendors both flexibility and control.
Speaking ahead of the launch, co-founder Jim Abba noted that VendCliq’s focus is different from many emerging tech companies. “We are not just building another app,” he said. “VendCliq exists to make sure vendors can see profit and sustainable growth. This is about giving the backbone of Africa’s beverage industry ‘the ordinary vendor’ the technology to thrive.”
Though still young, VendCliq has already won a following among vendors in Lagos, with many praising the platform for helping them stock smarter and sell more efficiently. From Surulere to Ikeja, traders say the system has given them new confidence in a competitive market.
The launch on Independence Day was more than symbolic. For many in the industry, it underscored the company’s ambition to position itself as a pride of Africa, a Nigerian-built solution addressing uniquely African business challenges. Industry observers note that while global tech firms have tried to penetrate the FMCG space, few have focused squarely on a singluar vertical solving intrinsc problems in a niche.
For a nation celebrating 65 years of independence, VendCliq’s rise is being seen as a symbol of local innovation powering Africa’s next phase of growth, a company built by Nigerians, for African realities.
