Ndovu, wealth-tech startup officially unveils venture in Kenya after pre-seed round

Ndovu, a wealth-tech startup that provides customers with instant access to global financial markets, officially launched its product suite in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, on Wednesday, joining Africa’s nascent wealth-tech industry.

The company stated that it began operations in Kenya after realizing the market access challenges and high management costs of current investment alternatives in Kenya, which have resulted in the exclusion of the country’s majority.

It was learned that traditional players in the region had failed to embrace advances that would allow them to service a diverse customer base, necessitating the need for Nvodu’s solutions.

According to Capital Markets Authority statistics, Ndovu’s entry into the sector comes at a time when the aggregate value of wealth under administration by several collective investment schemes in Kenya stood at $81.02 billion in June 2021, up from $493 million in September 2017.

Speaking on the new milestone, Radhika Bhachu, Ndovu’s CEO and co-founder, emphasized the importance of providing Africans with the right tools for wealth creation.

“Our idea was born out of our passion to improve financial lives across Africa. Our vision is to provide every African, regardless of income level or financial knowledge, with the right tools to grow their wealth. We believe educating our people on how to make their money work for them will bring us one step closer to reducing poverty on the continent. ”

Radhika Bhachu, Ndovu’s CEO and co-founder

Founders with a wealth of investment experience

Nvodu was founded in 2020 by Radhika Bhachu, Ro Nyangeri, and Gianpaolo De Biase, and its co-founders bring a wealth of investment experience that will help the company succeed.

Ndovu’s CEO, Ms. Bhachu, is an investment specialist with 11 years of experience advising global Fortune 500 companies. Ndovu’s CCO, Ro Nyangeri, is a former Head of Strategy at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, and the company’s CTO, Gianpaolo De Biase, is a serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled digital products in various markets around the world.

Ndovu, which is available on Google Play and Apple App Stores, is regulated by Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and offers users local and global investment opportunities for as little as $50. (KSh5,000).

“If you saved $100 per month for ten years in a bank account paying 2% per year, you would earn $13,200.” However, if you invested $100 per month for ten years through Ndovu into the S&P 500 fund, you could earn approximately $23,500, according to Ro, Nvodu’s CCO.

“At Ndovu, we are playing a key role in financial inclusion by opening up previously-gated financial markets to all,” said De Biase Bvodu, CTO. We are also demystifying investments by demystifying financial jargon through an easy-to-use platform.”

Because of its innovative approach, Ndovu has received undisclosed pre-seed funding from 4DX Ventures, Plug and Play Tech Center, Future Africa, and Oui Capital.

The company now has over 1,000,000 active members and expects to grow to over 1,000,000 users in the next three years by expanding into new nations.

“The chance to offer frictionless and low-cost investing solutions for all Africans is a vital goal that we believe in. The Ndovu team is developing a cutting-edge solution to meet the primary investment demands of an increasingly mobile African population. We’re looking forward to working with them on the next step. ”

stated Walter Baddo, 4DX Ventures’ co-founder and general partner.

A development grant from Zilliqa, the blockchain initiative that pioneered sharding, a technique that divides platform infrastructure into numerous linked networks to facilitate more transactions, has been awarded to the company.

Ndovu also won first place in the She Loves Tech (2021) competition and first place in the Africa’s New Venture Competition at Princeton University (2020).

This follows the company’s selection for the highly competitive Google for Startups Accelerator in 2021, the same year it was recognized by the Co-Creation Hub for its work to empower women.