Kenyan investment app, Hisa, has been acquired by Risevest, a similar but more established venture in Nigeria.
“Excited to share that Hisa has been acquired by Risevest,” announced Hisa Co-Founder Eric Asuma on Twitter.
“Eke Urum [Risevest CEO] and I share a vision of expanding investment opportunities for Africans. A huge thank you to our early investors – this milestone is as much yours as it is ours.”
The deal reportedly allows Risevest to operate in Kenya and is the second investment by the Nigerian company in less than a year. In September 2023, Risevest, acquired fellow Nigerian venture, digital trading company, Chaka.
According to Urum, Hisa will keep its name while the company’s brand and staff will also not be affected by the move.
“We like the Hisa name because it resonates well with Kenyans so we have no plans on changing it,” Rise CEO, Eke Urum, told journalist.
“We are not planning to make a lot of changes; it is time to understand the company, the culture, the context, and the market that we are coming into.”
According to reports, the current CEO of Hisa, Eric Jackson, will now become the CTO, a position he previously held before.
Asuma, founder of business publication, Kenyan Wall Street, co-founded Hisa with Jackson in 2020 and will stay on as a strategy advisor.
Leah Njoroge, formerly an investment analyst at Kenyan Wall Street and finance associate at Hisa, has been appointed head of operations. She will oversee all seven Hisa employees while reporting directly to Urum who will now manage Hisa as part of his broader portfolio of startups.
Founded by Bosun Olanrewaju, Eke Urum, Tony Odiba, Risevest describes itself as a technology-driven finance company connecting everyday Africans with the best dollar-denominated investment opportunities around the world.
Investment fintechs have become popular, particularly among young urban Nigerians, allowing them to invest in foreign stocks and bonds, with experts saying they have increased financial inclusion in the country.
Risevest, which had its accounts frozen by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2021 for suspected involvement with cryptocurrencies, says it has over 600,000 users with over $42 million in returns paid to investors across Nigeria, Ghana, the United States, Kenya, and Uganda who are leveraging its app to invest in the global stocks.
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