The One That Got Away — Then Came Back
In June 2022, we received an application from a Kenyan travel-tech startup called Tripitaca. The team described their vision as building an operating system for tourism SMEs in Africa — a digital layer that could help small operators manage and scale more efficiently.
At the time, we debated the concept internally. The idea was ambitious, but we struggled to see how it could meaningfully differentiate from platforms like Airbnb, which had already shown strong traction in the Kenyan market. After several conversations and internal reviews, we made the decision to pass on the deal.
However, we saw promise in the founding team — Peter Wachira and Collins Muthinja — and encouraged them to keep us updated on their progress.
A few months later, we heard from them again.
The company had rebranded as Triply.co and launched a new version of the product. The results were clear: monthly recurring revenue was growing rapidly, and customer adoption was accelerating. It was evident that they had found something that resonated deeply with both supply-side operators and end users.
We re-engaged quickly.
Over the following week, we worked closely with the founders to explore how we could support their growth. We extended a term sheet, and shortly after, Triply.co joined our accelerator programme at Baobab Network.
Today, Triply.co is the fastest-growing travel-tech company on the continent. They’ve built a high-growth platform serving thousands of tourism SMEs, and they’re now generating millions in revenue. Their trajectory has attracted global investors, including Y Combinator and 4DX Ventures, and they are well on track to make 2025 their breakout year.
We’re proud to have backed Peter and Collins, and even prouder to see what Triply.co is building — not just for Kenya, but for the future of travel across Africa.
