This ex-Google, ex-Anka founder is building Shopify but for social sellers in Francophone Africa

A new platform is emerging in Francophone Africa, designed to support small businesses that sell products through informal channels such as messaging apps and social media. This shift in commerce has created a need for a more streamlined process, allowing sellers to manage orders, payments, and customer interactions more efficiently. Yelen, founded by Ibrahima Sylla and Christian Okoth, is positioning itself as an all-in-one solution for social sellers, combining storefronts, payments, and customer management into a single system.

Launched in June 2025, Yelen has grown to thousands of users across multiple African markets in less than a year. The platform allows sellers to create an online storefront, collect payments, and manage customers and sales cycles, all within a single platform. It also supports payments via card, mobile money, and other methods across 20 African countries.

Yelen's core features include tools for automating sales responses and managing customer interactions across social channels. However, the broader ambition of the platform goes beyond these core features. The long-term vision is to build a full ecosystem where sellers can manage their entire business lifecycle, from conversations to transactions, within one platform.

Yelen's founders drew inspiration from their experiences working with various startups and companies, including Google and Anka. Ibrahima Sylla, one of the co-founders, left his job at Google in May 2024 to pursue a more impactful venture. His decision to leave corporate life was driven by a desire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of small business owners in Francophone Africa.

Yelen's platform has the potential to revolutionize the way small businesses operate in Francophone Africa, providing them with a more efficient and streamlined process for managing their sales and customer interactions.