Risevest, a Nigerian fintech that enables customers to put money into US Greenback-denominated belongings, has secured a Fund & Portfolio Supervisor licence from the Securities and Change Fee (SEC), Nigeria’s capital market regulator.
The brand new licence, obtained by way of its subsidiary, RV Fund Administration Restricted, brings Risevest’s operations below the capital market’s regulatory framework, closing a chapter that raised questions on its operations.
“This approval displays months of rigorous evaluate and engagement,” Eke Urum, Risevest’s co-founder, wrote in a message to customers on Wednesday. “We’re grateful to the Securities and Change Fee for the essential work they do in safeguarding Nigeria’s monetary system and sustaining requirements that defend buyers. Sturdy regulation builds sturdy markets and robust markets construct lasting wealth.”
This marks a pivotal regulatory win for Risevest, which in January 2025 got here below strain after the SEC regulator publicly warned Nigerians towards investing by way of the platform, citing an absence of a required licence to function inside Nigeria’s capital market.
On the time, Risevest mentioned its Nigerian funding actions had been safeguarded by way of a trusteeship association with Meristem Trustees Restricted, an SEC-licensed trustee.
Risevest’s Nigerian operations had been beforehand structured by way of partnerships and regulatory cowl, most notably its September 2023 acquisition of Chaka, an SEC-licensed digital buying and selling startup. The deal allowed Risevest to leverage Chaka’s licence to supply Nigerian customers with entry to world securities.
The corporate now joins a rising record of different SEC-licenced fintechs working in Nigeria, together with Bamboo and Trove, which acquired an SEC-licenced broker-dealer in January. “It has all the time been our aim to function on the highest stage of world compliance,” Urum famous.
Risevest’s licence comes amid rising retail participation in Nigeria’s capital market. In July 2025, trades from Nigerian retail buyers elevated by 88.07% month-on-month to ₦516.50 billion ($384 million). The licence positions the corporate to legally seize part of this rising demand.
Based in 2019 by Eke Urum, Bosun Olanrewaju, and Tony Odiba, Risevest curates and presents portfolios in US shares and world fixed-income belongings, and permits customers to decide on how a lot they need to make investments. In 2024, the corporate acquired Hisa, a Kenyan funding startup, marking its entry into the East African nation.
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