According to Crunchbase, the company has raised $53 million. The company said in a statement that it harnesses mobile technologies, a network of local agents, and proprietary Copia Logistics to reach a market that formal retail and Western e-commerce models cannot. The e-commerce company focuses on customers in rural areas that struggle to access the same goods and services in terms of choice, price value and reliability that similar consumers in urban areas or of higher income levels can access. And though this target market can be hard to locate and individuals may have smaller wallet sizes, their number — which Copia says is about 750 million people across Africa — and collective purchasing power present an opportunity, especially when a company thinks hyperlocal.“The whole premise of Copia was to find a solution that was sustainable and profitable to serve consumers that we could improve their quality of life and that of their families,” said CEO Tim Steel. The company is building a sustainable business that involves a three-way relationship among the company, customers, and 30,000 agents in different communities across Kenya and Uganda. But with Copia, for instance, 20 customers within a particular location can make various orders, and the company will deliver them to its agents, whose shops and stores are close to customers in that location. The e-commerce company pays agents a commission on every sold product, increasing their income by more than 30%. And of the 30,000 agents of the company, 77% are women, the company said. The Kenyan company intends to use the Series C funding to grow its model across East Africa, mainly Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. Copia Global was founded in Kenya by Tracey Turner and Jonathan Lewis as a B2C e-commerce platform to serve Africa’s middle- and low-income African consumers.