nFuse raises $2M to let small retailers order via WhatsApp

Two former Coca-Cola operators built a messaging-first ordering platform after watching B2B eCommerce initiatives repeatedly fail in fragmented trade. The platform claims 70% retailer adoption and order processing costs up to 20 times lower than traditional digital channels.

Bulgarian B2B ordering startup nFuse has raised $2 million from Eleven Ventures and LAUNCHub in a round designed to accelerate expansion across the CESEE, Latin American, and Southeast Asian markets its founders know from nearly three decades of combined experience at Coca-Cola.

The platform lets small retailers place orders via WhatsApp, Viber, or SMS using text, voice messages, or photos of empty shelves, with no app to download and no new interface to learn.

The company was founded by Stoyan Ivanov, who spent nearly 20 years at Coca-Cola including as New Ventures Director for Europe, and Stefan Radov, who spent a decade at the company working across distribution, sales, and go-to-market operations.

Their shared starting point was a pattern both had watched for years: FMCG companies investing heavily in B2B eCommerce portals, with adoption in fragmented trade sitting around 15%, implementation timelines of 18 months, and millions of independent small retailers, kiosks, and shops largely ignoring the platforms.

The observation that drove nFuse was behavioural rather than technical. Retailers across emerging markets were already running their businesses through messaging apps, sending photos of empty shelves or voice-messaging orders to sales reps because it was faster than typing into a portal. nFuse is built on that channel rather than against it.

A retailer photographs an empty shelf; the image becomes a confirmed order. Ivanov puts the underlying problem plainly: the platforms were built for the dashboards and data that headquarters wanted, not for the person standing behind a counter who needs to reorder beer before the weekend.

The results the company reports are striking relative to the category. nFuse claims 70% retailer adoption, compared with the roughly 15% typical of B2B ordering apps in fragmented trade, and says its per-order processing cost of around $1 is up to 20 times lower than the cost of orders processed through traditional digital platforms.

The company’s website states clients can go live within 30 days. Fragmented trade, the network of independent retailers that dominate commerce in emerging markets, represents over $5 trillion in global value globally, and in regions including CESEE, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, these outlets account for the majority of FMCG sales.

Eleven Ventures and LAUNCHub are both Sofia-based venture funds with a track record in B2B software across Central and Eastern Europe. The funding will support expansion across nFuse’s target geographies as the company pushes further into markets where messaging-based commerce is already the behavioural norm rather than an edge case.