Techstars-backed fintech, Risevest has acquired Chaka, a digital trading platform. “I’m excited about how Chaka’s product will evolve and how we’re going to learn from the Risevest team,” Tosin Osinbodu, Chaka’s founder told TechCabal while confirming the deal that was closed on Tuesday (September 26).
According to Eke Urum, Risevest’s co-founder, both companies will continue to operate as different products but the capitalization table of the acquiree will be updated.
Launched in 2019, Chaka provides opportunities for local investors to explore international markets and diversify their portfolios into African and global capital markets. In addition to this, it offers global citizens access to invest in local capital markets with just a click, thus bridging the gap in accessing viable investment vehicles.
“With booming growth in many nations around the world, investors can now own a stake in the growth of other economies. Yet, for many Nigerians, this is a daunting task. We created Chaka to fill this gap, and likewise, give the global community access to local capital markets,” says Osinbodu.
The fintech became the first licensed digital sub-broker in Nigeria in 2021. In the same year, Chaka raised $1.5 million pre-seed in a round backed by Breyer Capital, 4DX Ventures, Golden Palm Investments, Future Africa, Seedstars, and Musha Ventures.
Related Article: A comparison of Risevest and Chaka
Meanwhile, Risevest was launched in 2020—a year after Chaka, by Eke Urum and Bosun Olanrewaju. The startup focuses on making dollar investments easy for Nigerians. Before its February 2020 launch, it was previously known as Cashestate, an investment service vehicle that allowed Africans to make dollar-denominated real estate investments.
In March 2021, Risevest raised an undisclosed seed round. Prior to that, the company secured a $120,000 seed in July 2020.
Last year, the bank accounts of Risevest, Chaka, and three other Nigerian fintech startups were frozen at the request of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in August due to alleged “illicit forex transactions”. Later in August 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja made a ruling in favour of Risevest on the allegations.
In July this year, the CBN directed banks to vacate the post-no-debit restriction placed on the aforementioned bank accounts.
A post-no-debit means that all debit transactions, including ATMs and cheques, on the accounts have been blocked but can receive inflows.
