Kippa, the Nigerian fintech startup with backing from Target Global, witnessed the departure of its co-founder and President, Duke Ekezie, in the wake of the closure of Kippa Pay, the agency banking product he oversaw. Ekezie confirmed his departure and hinted at his involvement in a new venture, although details remain undisclosed.
Despite his exit, Ekezie retains a shareholder position at Kippa and continues to offer advisory services to the company.
Notably, Uche Jepthat, the CTO and another co-founder, parted ways with Kippa in November 2022, shortly after the company raised $8.2 million in its second funding round. Since then, Jepthat has co-founded Earna, a firm specializing in employee benefits and wellness plans.
The shutdown of Kippa Pay led to the layoff of 40 employees. Ekezie has shifted his focus towards identifying challenges within SMEs and large enterprises that Kippa could potentially address. While specifics about his new venture remain elusive, it is believed to align with his long-term goals.
In response to these developments, Kippa intends to transition towards edtech, offering an AI-powered platform that designs and delivers courses through messaging apps. Prior to founding Kippa, Ekezie and his co-founders played instrumental roles in TikTok‘s expansion into Africa. Their firsthand experience with the manual reconciliation challenges faced by businesses prompted the development of Kippa to automate accounting processes.
To date, Kippa has secured approximately $11.6 million in funding across two rounds from various VC firms and angel investors.
Source: Innovation Village