Meet WaraCake: The Start-Up That Delivers Cake To Your Doorstep by Aanu Adeoye

With Internet penetration of about 81million, it is obvious a large majority of Nigerians are quickly adapting to the Internet age. More businesses have moved online and it is not surprising that traditional corporations such as banks and other firms have taken their online presence serious. This has led to a boom in profit for a lot of brands.

There seems to be an emerging middle class in the country, a cross section of people with a considerable income that have enough to spend on retail goods. Jumia and Konga have taken advantage of this viable market, with both of them growing to become the largest online stores in the country, providing a wide range of goods and services from baby apparel to automobile for their millions of followers.

A number of niche online stores have also popped up serving customers in ways that generic e-malls cannot. Step in fledgling Lagos-based start-up, WaraCake. Aside from being excellently named (waracake means ‘come buy some cake’, in Yoruba language) they also have an eye-catching logo. But focusing on these rather facile elements would be doing a great disservice to their amazing work. What exactly does WaraCake do, you may ask?

WaraCake is your one-stop shop for cakes on Nigerian Internet. But they do not actually bake the cakes themselves. WaraCake is a marketplace for bakers and they aggregate the best bakers you can get in town. It seems are rather interesting niche to specialize in, given almost everyone loves cakes. Factor in the fact cakes are used in various settings; weddings, birthdays and on Valentine’s, the idea of delivering cakes to customers’ is particularly mouthwatering.

“WaraCake was inspired as a result of the painstaking process it takes to get a cake for a loved one. We also exist, as more niches in the Nigerian e-commerce industry today have not been tapped into,” Olatunde Ayilara, WaraCake CEO told Qlick when asked why they decided to start selling and delivering cakes.

Every company has its ups and downs and WaraCake is definitely no different. Operations began in May 2014 and when quizzed on what their journey has been so far Ayilara said, “The journey has been an equal shades of both [good and bad].”

“The passion to build a brand which aims to be the first choice partner of everyone keeps us going,” he continued.

Lagos is regarded as the economic capital of Nigeria and it is not surprising that majority of brands and corporations have their headquarters located in the vibrant city that is home to 20 million people. Most start-ups are also heavily concentrated on operating within Lagos, leaving other markets untapped. WaraCake however has already started delivering in other cities across the country. “We currently deliver in Lagos, Abuja, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ife, and Benin. We are expanding to a city near you as soon as we sign up a good baker in such cities,” the CEO said.

On plans of expanding into uncharted territories, he said. “We announce every other day we have started deliveries in a new state. Expansion is always ongoing as sellers can sign up from anywhere within Nigeria at waracake.com/sell. If such bakers meet our quality requirements, we sign them up,” indicating that not only do bakers have to sign up, they also have to meet pre-determined standards before they are allowed access to the marketplace.

When news broke that ex-Konga and Jumia executive Onyeka Akumah had invested in WaraCake, industry watchers were keen to hear what he would be bringing on board. Although details of the investment were not made public, it was revealed he would also be joining the start-up in an advisory capacity. “The company is leveraging on his expertise in the internet space. We believe this is of great value to the company and will further drive growth,” Ayilara concluded.

If you’re ever in need of top-quality cakes without the hassle of mind-numbing traffic, you know where to head and it will be at your doorstep in no time.