---
title: "Why Raise shut down"
description: "Kenyan equity-management platform Raise shut down in September 2025 after seven years, migrating its users to US-based Carta and offering free users access to Carta Launch, after founder Marvin Coleby concluded the company had 'never quite found the right business model for venture' investing in Africa; Coleby subsequently joined Carta as head of product for Asia, the Middle East and Africa."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/raise"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/raise.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/raise/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why Raise shut down

Kenyan equity-management platform Raise shut down in September 2025 after seven years, migrating its users to US-based Carta and offering free users access to Carta Launch, after founder Marvin Coleby concluded the company had 'never quite found the right business model for venture' investing in Africa; Coleby subsequently joined Carta as head of product for Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Raise](/graveyard/raise)

## Summary

Here lies Raise. For seven years it kept cap tables and equity in order for Africa's startups and SMEs. It never found a business model that vested, so it moved its own users onto Carta and folded its shares into someone else's table.

Kenyan equity-management platform Raise shut down in September 2025 after seven years, migrating its users to US-based Carta and offering free users access to Carta Launch, after founder Marvin Coleby concluded the company had 'never quite found the right business model for venture' investing in Africa; Coleby subsequently joined Carta as head of product for Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | AcquiredDiscontinued |
| Primary cause | NoProductMarketFit |
| Stage at shutdown | Seed |
| Lifespan in days | 2800 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product attempted

Raise built cap-table and equity-management software for African startups and SMEs, offering tools for equity issuance, cap table management and compliance aimed at the continent's venture capital ecosystem.

## What worked

By mid-2020 Raise had facilitated over $20 million in fundraising transactions, and by 2021 had onboarded more than 200 companies managing a combined $150 million in equity; it raised a $25,000 investment from Microtraction along with backing from 500 Startups, CRE Ventures, Launch Africa, Lofty Capital, Vibe Capital and XFactor Ventures, and later secured investment from Carta itself in 2023.

## What happened

After seven years serving Africa's venture-backed startup ecosystem, Raise's founders concluded that a standalone cap-table business focused on venture deals could not scale sustainably on the continent. In September 2025 the company announced it was shutting down, migrating its paying customers to Carta and giving free users access to Carta Launch, while founder Marvin Coleby joined Carta directly.

## Sources

- [Kenyan fintech Raise shuts down, migrates users to Carta](https://techpoint.africa/news/raise-shuts-down/?ref=startupgraveyard.africa): Techpoint Africa
- [Kenyan Cap Table Startup Raise Africa Shuts Down, Citing a Better Fit with Private Equity](https://launchbaseafrica.com/2025/09/04/kenyas-raise-africa-shuts-down-citing-a-better-fit-with-private-equity-in-strategic-pivot-to-carta/): Launch Base Africa
- [Kenyan Fintech Raise Shuts Down, Users Migrate to Carta](https://techmoran.com/2025/09/05/kenyan-fintech-raise-shuts-down-users-migrate-to-carta/): TechMoran

## Related pages

- [Raise alternatives](/raise/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/graveyard/raise)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)