Wealth-tech startup, Ndovu launches venture in Kenya after pre-seed round

Ndovu, a wealth-tech startup that gives customers quick access to global financial markets, officially launched its product suite in Nairobi, Kenya‘s capital city, on Wednesday, joining the wealth-tech business in Africa that is still in its infancy.

The company said it launched operations in the country after realizing market access challenges and high management costs of current investment alternatives in Kenya that have led to the exclusion of the majority in the country.

It was gathered that traditional players in the region had failed to embrace the advances that will allow them to service a diversified customer base, thus the need for Nvodu’s solutions.

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

Radhika Bhachu, Ndovu’s CEO and co-founder, speaking on the new milestone, reiterated the need to provide 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 immense investment experience

Founded in 2020 by Radhika Bhachu, Ro Nyangeri, and Gianpaolo De Biase, Nvodu has its co-founders coming from an immense pool of investment experience needed to position the company for success.

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

Ndovu, available on Google Play and Apple App stores, is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in Kenya and provides users with local and global investment opportunities for as low as $50 (KSh5,000).

“If you were to save $100 per month for 10 years in a bank account paying 2% per annum, you would earn $13,200. On the other hand, if you invested $100 per month for 10 years using Ndovu into the S&P 500 fund, you could earn approximately $23,500, said Ro, Nvodu’s CCO. 

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

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

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.

The company has received a number of prizes, including 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.

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

This comes on top of the company being chosen for the extremely competitive Google for Startups Accelerator in 2021, the same year it was recognized by the Co-Creation Hub for its work to empower women.