Rayda Shifts from Asset Tracking to Full Device Lifecycle

In Short

• Rayda started in 2023 as an asset tracking product for businesses.
• It is now positioning as an IT device lifecycle management platform.
• The goal is to manage what happens to company devices from employee onboarding to offboarding.

What Happened

Rayda is evolving its product from basic asset tracking to broader IT device lifecycle management. That means Rayda wants to cover the full journey of company-issued laptops and other hardware, from when an employee joins a company to when they leave.

The shift is rooted in a common operations problem in growing teams. Francis Osifo, Rayda co-founder and CEO, traces the idea back to his time at 54gene. The genomics startup needed to ship a laptop from Nigeria to a new hire in Kenya, and the device spent close to two months stuck in customs.

That delay highlighted a bigger issue. Osifo said the company did not have a reliable system of record for its devices. Finance records could show fixed-asset value, but not who currently had each laptop, whether it had been repaired, or whether it had been reassigned.

Rayda’s expanded scope is trying to close that gap with a single workflow. In plain terms, it is moving from a list of assets to a system that tracks ownership, status changes, repairs, and handovers over time.

Why It Matters

For African startups and scale-ups hiring across borders, device logistics can become messy fast. Customs delays, remote teams, and rapid hiring all increase the risk of lost equipment and unclear accountability.

Device lifecycle management also ties into security and compliance. When a staff member leaves, companies need to recover devices and access, or confirm secure wipe and reassignment. Rayda is betting that operations teams want one place to manage these steps, rather than spreadsheets and scattered tools.

This direction also puts Rayda closer to HR and IT operations software. As more teams formalise onboarding and offboarding, tools that combine asset visibility with process controls are likely to see higher demand.