Kora
The trade lane between Korea and Africa.
African demand for Korean goods is rising — K-beauty, electronics, automotive parts, industrial components.
But the trade lane between the two regions is fragmented: agents, intermediaries, opaque pricing, payment risk.
Kora makes it one platform. One contract. One escrowed payment.
Why this trade lane is hard
Seven steps, seven vendors.
Sourcing, FX, escrow, freight, insurance, customs, last-mile — each one a different supplier, each one a different fee.
Trust is the bottleneck.
A first-time buyer in Lagos has no way to verify a supplier in Busan. So they don't buy.
FX moves against you.
Multi-week shipping windows expose buyers to KRW / USD / NGN / ZAR volatility with no hedging path.
Quality is opaque.
No independent QC at origin means the first time you see the goods is when they arrive at the port.
A B2B marketplace and trade desk that lets verified African buyers source from verified Korean suppliers — with escrow, FX, freight, customs and quality control built in. One platform instead of seven.
Verified suppliers
KYC + factory audits at origin. Every Korean supplier on Kora has been physically verified.
Escrow that works
Buyer pays into escrow. Funds release on milestones the buyer signs off — not before.
FX as a service
Quote in your currency. Lock the rate at order. Hedge the shipping window.
Freight + customs
Ocean and air freight bookings, customs paperwork, last-mile — all coordinated from inside the order.
Independent QC
Photos, video, and an inspector's report from the factory floor before goods leave Korea.
Who Kora is for
- African buyers — beauty distributors, electronics importers, parts wholesalers, industrial buyers
- Korean suppliers — manufacturers and brands looking for verified African distribution
- Logistics partners — freight forwarders, customs brokers, last-mile networks
- Trade financiers — banks and fintechs financing the order book
Four pillars the product is built on.
Marketplace
Verified-only suppliers, transparent pricing, sample orders.
Trade desk
Escrow, FX, financing, contracts — all on one rail.
Logistics
Ocean, air, customs, last-mile, with tracking from factory to door.
Quality
Independent QC at origin. No more port-side surprises.
Korea's manufacturing base is among the world's best. Africa's consumer markets are growing fastest. The lane between them has been stuck in 1990s trade-agent economics. Kora is the first attempt to make it look like the modern internet.
South Korea on the supply side at launch. South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt on the buy side. Expanding category by category, country by country.
Get involved with Kora.
Three ways to be part of what we're building. Pick the one that fits.
Get early access.
Join the waiting list to be among the first to use Kora when it opens.
Build alongside us.
Distribution partners, integrators, channel operators, and institutional partners for Kora.
Track the build.
Investor relations for Kora — early access to public-facing materials and milestones.