Raise, a Nairobi-based fintech startup that aimed to digitise equity management and fundraising for African startups, is officially shutting down.
The company was founded in 2018 by Marvin Coleby, Tina Nyamache, and Eugene Mutai with the goal of streamlining the way African companies handle cap tables, issue equity, and conduct due diligence.
However, after seven years in operation, the company has announced that it is closing its doors and will be migrating its users to Carta, a U.S.-based equity management platform.
In a LinkedIn post, Coleby explained that Raise struggled to find a scalable business model that worked within the African venture capital ecosystem.
“Raise never quite found the right business model for venture. Private equity made the most sense, but doing that alone wouldn’t scale.”
As part of the shutdown, all of Raise’s paid users will be migrated to Carta, while free users will have the option to transition to Carta Launch, a free tier designed for early-stage startups. Although Coleby will be joining Carta as the Head of Product for the Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) region, it is currently unclear whether any of Raise’s employees will be joining him.
Raise had received investment from prominent early-stage funds, including Microtraction, 500 Startups, CRE Ventures, Launch Africa, Lofty Ventures, Vibe Capital, and XFactor Ventures. Over the years, the platform served a number of high-profile African startups, such as Nestcoin, Numida, Accrue, and Workpay.
Raise began attracting attention in 2019, when it launched an alpha version of its platform. By mid-2020, it had helped facilitate over $20 million in fundraising transactions, partnering with both startups and law firms in Kenya and Nigeria.
In 2021, the startup secured $25,000 in investment from Microtraction. At the time, Raise had onboarded over 200 companies and managed equity worth $150 million, with startup valuations totalling over $90 million through its platform.
In 2023, Raise took a major step forward when it secured funding from Carta. The investment was seen as a way to bridge Raise’s regional expertise with Carta’s global infrastructure.
Despite these ambitions, it appears that the long-term sustainability of Raise as a standalone product was not viable as it finds a new home in Carta.
