Risevest (Rise), a Nigeria-based fintech startup that helps Nigerians invest in dollar-denominated assets, announced on Friday that it has signed popular musician, Teni Apata—popularly called Teni Makanaki—as its first-ever brand ambassador.
The company said the award-winning musician represents and connects with their target audience who are young, confident and talented Nigerians—“those who, despite their savviness, often lack access to well-managed investment portfolios that would help them achieve their financial goals.”
“Teni sings about success, uplift and having pride in where you’re from. She is an avid saver and investor and a huge fan of Rise. And her music resonates with everyone. That made it an easy decision to trust her with our message,” said Eke Urum, founder/CEO at Rise, in a statement made available to TechCabal.
“I want to be a billionaire,” Teni sang in one of her hit singles, “Billionaire”. The artist is quite popular for singing about wealth and enjoyment, so choosing her as the face of the brand, like the CEO said, could truly be an easy call.
“I want to make absolutely sure that my financial future is secure, not just for me but also for my future generation. And Rise gives everyone, including me, a simple way to get high-quality investments,” said Teni Makanaki, who has been a fan of how Rise seamlessly democratises access to building generational wealth.
Through this partnership, Rise said it’s aiming to reach out to a broad class of both younger and older Nigerians who care about financial success and want to do it the “Rise way.”
This announcement is coming two weeks after the digital wealth management company rebranded its identity across all its owned digital assets and also won back its frozen bank accounts from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Leveraging established celebrities and influencers, especially musicians, to amplify brands’ voices used to be traditional companies’ style of publicity, but it’s fast becoming a thing among tech startups.
Rise today joined the ranks of other fintech startups tapping one or more superstars to help project their company’s unique offerings to the world. Some of them are Bitsika, which gained thousands of users on its first day unveiling Davido as its ambassador; WorldRemit, which had Patoranking as its ambassador; Kuda and the young superstar, Fireboy DML; and Chipper Cash that has self-acclaimed African giant, Burna Boy, flying its flag around the world.
