Risevest has acquired Chaka, a digital investment platform for an undisclosed amount. Risevest, formerly known as Cashestate is a fintech that allows Africans to make dollar-denominated real estate investments. This Techstars-backed startup focuses on making dollar investments easy for Nigerians.
Chaka on the other hand 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.
Although both parties offer similar services to their target market, both companies will continue to operate as different products but the capitalization table of the acquiree will be updated, according to Eke Urum, Risevest’s co-founder.
“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 founder of Chaka.
The acquired 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.
This acquisition follows after the bank accounts of Risevest, Chaka, and three other Nigerian fintech startups were frozen in 2021. This was 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.