Kenyan wealth-tech startup, Ndovu has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding from 4DX Ventures, Plug and Play Tech Center, Future Africa, and Oui Capital as it has officially launched.
The startup which seeks to provide easy accessibility Kenyans and Africans at larger the easy accessibility to the global financial markets will use the funds gained in realising its goal.
The company said its decision to launch operations in Kenyan was after realising that the market faced challenges with high management costs of current investment alternatives.
The startup which was founded by Radhika Bhachu, the CEO who is investment specialist with 11 years of experience advising global top 500 companies, Ro Nyangeri – the former Head of Strategy at the Nairobi Securities Exchange and Ndovu CCO, and Gianpaolo De Biase, the CTO – an entrepreneur who has built and scaled digital products in different markets around the globe in 2020 with vision to provide every African, regardless of income level or financial knowledge, with the right tools to grow their wealth.
Founded in 2020 , Ndovu intends on providing smart, simple, and affordable investment solutions by investing money in a globally diversified portfolio to help build wealth.
Its mobile app is 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).
Explaining how it works, Ro Nyangeri, Ndovu’s CCO noted that by using Ndovu, which is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), users can invest as little as KSh5,000 ($50) in local and global investments
She said, “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 invest $100 per month for 10 years using Ndovu, into the S&P 500 fund, you could earn approximately $23,500”.
He said, “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”.
Walterr Baddo, Co-founder and General Partner, 4DX Ventures, said, “The opportunity to create frictionless and low cost investment products for all Africans remains an important mission that we believe in. The Ndovu team is building an innovative product that addresses the core investment needs of an increasingly mobile first African population. We are excited to partner with them in this next chapter.”
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.
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.
