Eke Eleanya Urum, the founder and CEO of Nigeria-based stock investment app, Risevest, was recommended by investors of the company to step down from his role due to ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual and non-sexual impropriety.
“Following allegations of sexual and non-sexual impropriety from someone who can be reasonably expected to have knowledge of such, investors of Risevest have asked Eke Urum to step aside from his role as founder and CEO and an independent investigation is ongoing,” a part of the statement reads.
Eke was first notified of the allegations against him by the investors on August 1st, according to TechCabal.
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“I was told on the evening of August 1 by investors that someone reached out that there were allegations of bullying, sexual harassment, and intimidation,” Eke told the newsmen over a call.
“They didn’t say by whom, but I was told to step aside so an independent panel could carry out an investigation,” he added.
Ravenewsonline.com gathered that Eke stepped down two days later.
The CEO claims he doesn’t know who’s behind the allegation and is patiently waiting for the outcome of the investigation.
“We (investors, investigative panel and the Risevest team) all agreed that it’s best for the panel to complete their investigation without any external noise, else it’ll add bias to the investigation or preempt the outcome,” Eke said.
Risevest, which was founded in 2019 by Bosun Olanrewaju, Eke Urum, and Tony Odiba, allows Africans to invest in foreign investment opportunities.
The company’s last funding was an undisclosed seed round in March 2021. And its disclosed funding to date is a $120,000 seed round from July 2020.
