Eke Uru, Founder of Rise and Eric Asuma, founder of Hisa and The Kenyan Wall Street
Rise, a Nigerian global investments startup, has completed its second acquisition in under one year after taking over Hisa, a Kenyan startup that facilitates stock trading.
The acquisition gives Rise an opportunity to operate within the Kenyan market without obtaining new licences given that Hisa is already approved by regulator. Hisa will retain its brand name, management, and staff to allow seamless operations because the acquired company is well-versed in the peculiarities of the local market.Hisa’s former CEO, Eric Jackson, will now assume the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Hisa’s Finance Associate, Leah Njoroge, will take over as Head of Operations. “This acquisition aligns perfectly with our shared vision of broadening investment opportunities for Africans. This move not only widens Hisa’s reach but will enable significant technology upgrade. We are grateful to our early investors who believed in and supported our journey—this milestone is as much theirs as it is ours.” – Eric Asuma, Co-founder of Hisa.
“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,” Rise CEO, Eke Urum told Tech Cabal.
Hisa was founded in 2020 by Eric Asuma and raised US$250,000 in pre-seed funding from angel investors such as Faida Investment Bank, Estonia based VC Startup Wise Guys, Chipper Cash Founders Ham Serunjogi and Majid Moujaled – at a post money valuation of US$ 5 million.
Rise, on the other hand, was also founded in 2020 by Eke Urum, supported by Ventures Platform and Techstars, and has since then grown to 600,000 users. In September 2023, it also acquired another digital trading startup called Chaka.
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