After seven years of operation, Nairobi-based fintech startup Raise is officially shutting down. Founded in 2018 by Marvin Coleby, Tina Nyamache, and Eugene Mutai, Raise aimed to digitize equity management and fundraising for African startups. However, the company struggled to find a scalable business model that worked within the African venture capital ecosystem.
In a LinkedIn post, Coleby explained that Raise never quite found the right business model for venture capital, with private equity seeming like the most viable option. As part of the shutdown, all of Raise’s paid users will be migrated to Carta, a U.S.-based equity management platform. Free users will have the option to transition to Carta Launch, a free tier designed for early-stage startups.
While Coleby will be joining Carta as the Head of Product for the Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) region, it is unclear if any of Raise’s employees will be making the transition. Raise had received investments from notable early-stage funds such as Microtraction, 500 Startups, CRE Ventures, Launch Africa, Lofty Ventures, Vibe Capital, and XFactor Ventures. The platform served high-profile African startups like Nestcoin, Numida, Accrue, and Workpay.
In 2019, Raise gained attention when it launched an alpha version of its platform. By mid-2020, it had facilitated over $20 million in fundraising transactions, partnering with startups and law firms in Kenya and Nigeria. In 2021, Raise secured a $25,000 investment from Microtraction, managing equity worth $150 million for over 200 companies with startup valuations totaling $90 million.
In 2023, Raise secured funding from Carta to bridge its regional expertise with Carta’s global infrastructure. Despite these ambitions, the long-term sustainability of Raise as a standalone product was not viable, leading to its closure and migration to Carta. This move marks the end of an era for Raise, but it opens up new opportunities for its users to continue their equity management journey with Carta.
