Chaka Technologies

Chaka Technologies operates as a digital investment platform, providing access to global and local stock markets for individuals and businesses primarily in Africa. Founded in 2019 by Tosin Osibodu and Olaolu Ajose, the Lagos-based company was established to remove the barriers preventing Nigerians from participating in global and local capital markets. Osibodu, who served as CEO, holds a background in Systems Science Engineering and developed a passion for trading after becoming frustrated with the difficulties for Nigerians to invest in the global economy. Ajose, the CTO, is a systems engineer with extensive experience in software development and engineering.

The company's core product is a digital platform that enables users to invest in and trade over 11,000 assets, including stocks and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) from exchanges in more than 40 countries, such as the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ. A key feature is its fractional investing capability, allowing users to start with small capital amounts, as low as $2 or ₦1,000. Chaka serves both retail investors and businesses, offering solutions for corporate clients, financial institutions, and asset managers. For businesses, it provides a trading platform, developer-friendly APIs for integration, and a self-service portal for portfolio managers.

Chaka's business model operates on a freemium basis, generating revenue through transaction fees for trades, subscriptions for premium features, and partnerships with financial institutions. A significant milestone for the company occurred in June 2021, when it became the first fintech firm to receive the 'Digital Sub-Broker/Sub-Broker Serving Multiple Brokers Through a Digital Platform' license from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This license was crucial, as the SEC had previously ordered Chaka to cease operations in December 2020 for operating without the requisite registration. Following the license acquisition, Chaka raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round in July 2021, led by Breyer Capital. In September 2023, Risevest, another Nigerian investment-tech company, acquired Chaka, although both platforms continue to operate as separate products. Five months after the acquisition, in January 2024, co-founder Tosin Osibodu departed from the company.

Keywords: digital investment, stock trading, wealth management, Nigerian fintech, global markets, fractional investing, asset management, investment platform, retail investors, SEC license, financial technology, African investment, ETFs, API integration, portfolio management, borderless investing, wealthtech, Lagos startup, capital markets access, Risevest acquisition