Eddie Ndichu and his brother Paul Ndichu are counting losses after one of the investors in their company Wapi Pay withdrew their funding.
This was after the investors Kepple Africa Venture revealed that they will withdraw their funding from the tech firm after its co-founders, the Ndichu brothers, were accused of assaulting women in Nairobi.
Kepple Africa Ventures, one of Wapi Pay’s investors said it is relinquishing all rights in its investment stake in a Nairobi-based Technology and payments firm but registered in Singapore, and operates globally.
The move comes barely a week after Wapi Pay had raised in excess of Ksh.240 million in a recent fund drive.
The fundraising was led by EchoVC & China-based global fund MSA Capital, which has also invested in other Asian unicorns, including NIO and Meituan. Kepple Africa Ventures also took part in this investment.
Kepple Africa Ventures co-founder Ryosuke Yamawaki made the announcement a day after the alleged video went viral.
“‘In light of the alleged assault on women by the founders of our portfolio company Wapi Pay, we Kepple Africa Ventures hereby announce that we have zero tolerance on such conduct and announce that we will relinquish all the rights of our investment stake in Wapi Pay,” said Kepple Africa in a statement.
It was not clear whether the firm was relinquishing the rights to participate in the funding round or relinquishing the rights to an existing stake in the start-up.
In a reply Tuesday, Wapi Pay said it is built on practices and culture of respect to employees and customers and does not promote any form of discrimination or encourage any form of gender-based violence saying the incident has been reported to the police and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for further resolution.
Kepple Africa Ventures has so far invested in 96 start-ups across 11 countries in Africa.
The fundraising was led by EchoVC & China-based global fund MSA Capital, which has also invested in other Asian unicorns, including NIO and Meituan. Kepple Africa Ventures also took part in this investment.
On their part, Paul and Eddie have distanced themselves from the assault allegations saying the viral video does not correctly show what transpired.
In a press statement released by their, Wapi Pay firm, the twin brothers noted that they do not condone or support violence against women and that on the night of the incident, they did not assault any woman as widely claimed. According to them, they were only trying to neutralize a confrontation between two women who were fighting in the hotel.
“We are aware of a video and news story circulating on social media regarding an altercation with Eddie and Paul Ndichu, the company’s (Wapi Pay) co-founders on Saturday night.
“We found the story distasteful and troubling and want to firmly state that any type of behaviour involving violence against women does not reflect our values nor does it reflect those of Eddie and Paul.
“Our understanding is that the allegations and video currently being shared on social media, albeit horrific and regrettable, do not depict the true events that transpired that night. To be clear, Paul and Eddie got involved in an attempt to neutralize a confrontation between two women and defend themselves from certain aggressors, ” they said in a statement.
