Lagos fintech GetEquity announces GreenHouse Capital investment

Lagos-based fintech startup GetEquity has announced the completion of an undisclosed six-figure funding round led by GreenHouse Capital (GHC). 

The leading African fintech investment fund supports early-stage startups and GetEquity has already benefited from the firm’s advice and mentoring through GHC Founding Partner Bunmi Akinyemiju and Principal Ruby Nimkar.

GetEquity launches startup funding offering

GetEquity was founded in 2019 by Jude Dike and Williams Okafor. Dike’s background reflects six years in blockchain, experience in full-stack development and engineering and previous startup experience around banking and DeFI solutions in the SA fintech arena. CTO Okafor is a senior developer with deep experience in AI/ML applications and marketing and consulting around manufacturing, design and merchandising for various startups.

The leading African fintech investment fund supports early-stage startups

In an interview with Ventureburn, CEO Dike said, “We are providing a seamless way for retail investors to own a piece of startup companies they love, use, and support. We see a huge gap in the early-stage startup space that needs to be filled. Early-stage startups looking for funding find it hard raising investments due to zero network effects yet operator capital funding is on the rise, just looking for awesome investment opportunities to be part of. We realised that someone had to take a stance around how we can build a bridge between companies looking to raise capital and investors looking for good deal flow.”

This investment coincides with the recent launch of GetEquity’s first product – a VC offering that aims to easily connect funders and startups and increase Africa’s global tech footprint. Startups request listings on the GetEquity platform and connect with institutional investors and public users. Anyone can buy equity in listed startups for $10. Startups that have already joined include Breeze, Onboardly and Nguvu Health.

When asked what GetEquity will be doing shortly, Dike explained, “We have private deal room features built for syndicates, accelerators, and other investors and will be launching features for investors including cap table management, assigning employee stock options and secondary transactions.”

Akinyemiju commented for GreenHouse Capital in a statement. “We are proud to see GetEquity’s revolutionary platform launch. One of our missions at GHC is to bring African startups to the world. GetEquity’s platform advances this mission by democratizing access to the continent’s fastest-growing startups. We also believe in ‘founders backing founders’ and have been thrilled to directly work with GetEquity from an early stage. The increased visibility that the platform will give African startups will inevitably result in larger investment rounds, faster closes, and an overall raising of the international profile of the African startup space,” she said.

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Featured image: (Left to right) GetEquity founder Temitope Ekundayo, founder and CEO Jude Dike, founder and CTO Williams Okafor (Supplied)