Nelly Chatue-Diop’s Web3  Startup Ejara Got $2 Million In Funding From Venture Capitalists Without A Marketing Budget, And In A Year It Had 50,000 Users

Nelly Chatue-Diop asserts that despite the expansion of the middle class in Francophone Africa, cryptocurrencies are still only used by a small number of affluent investors looking to diversify their holdings.

Chatue-Diop, who was born and raised in Douala, Cameroon, claimed that she used this chance to try to “level the playing field” for the area, which includes 14 countries and uses the CFA franc, including the Ivory Coast and Senegal. She claimed she sought to close the “big gap” by launching the investing platform Ejara, which lets users invest in cryptocurrencies and protect themselves against currency devaluations and other downturns.

In a recent interview, CEO Chatue-Diop stated, “That’s the problem we want to fix. “We want to democratize access to saving and investing by providing people with options.”
beginning Ejara

Ejara, which was founded last year, provides financial services like interest-bearing savings accounts, the ability to purchase, sell, and trade popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, as well as the chance to invest in fractionalized domestic and international stocks later this year. In addition to promoting educational programs through the Ejara School, the early-stage Web3 firm also offers a noncustodial wallet for users to store their money. Comparable to an early-stage Robinhood, Ejara distinguishes itself from other platforms by assisting customers with every step of their investments and by adjusting its offerings to the CFA franc zone.

Ejara has lowered the entry threshold for investing in the area, according to Chatue-Diop, who is also a cofounder of the platform. Users can fund their accounts on the startup’s platform with as little as $1.56, or 1,000 CFA francs.

According to Chatue-Diop, the company’s initial marketing expenditure was 0 dollars. Ejara stated it had success “going door to door, speaking to communities in churches and universities, and onboarding consumers that way” while other businesses were investing significant sums in social media marketing.

She said that the startup has amassed 50,000 members in less than two years and stated, “It’s really amazing when you find a company, and you are sitting where your userbase is.” According to Chatue-Diop, people have been using Ejara’s services for both wealth management and standard payment services. According to the executive, almost 40% of Ejara’s user population is female, with many of them being mothers setting up accounts for their kids to start investing young. This is a startling proportion given how male-dominated the Web3 user base typically is.

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Ejara disclosed a $2 million investment round last year that was co-led by CoinShares Ventures and Anthemis Group. Along with participation from Jason Yanowitz of Blockworks and Pascal Gauthier of Ledger, other backers included Lateral Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, LoftyInc Capital, and NetX Fund.
Prior to Ejara

The “most innovative thing in IT,” according to Chatue-Diop, has always sparked her passion.

She worked for Credit Suisse and Accenture early on before holding leadership positions at a few artificial intelligence firms. She claimed that after reading the bitcoin white paper in 2015, the concept that cryptocurrencies were “censorship-resistant” in the sense that their networks were not controlled centrally “really stuck in her mind.”

According to the World Bank, less than 30% of the populace in the Ivory Coast, Mali, Cameroon, and Senegal has a bank account, while roughly 55% of those individuals own a mobile phone. According to the Ejara investor Mercy Corps Ventures, this makes CFA franc regions a special market appropriate for increased use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

According to Chatue-Diop, women have difficulty obtaining land rights in some parts of Africa and are prohibited from owning property. Many are unable to diversify their income due to this and low rates of financial inclusion. According to Chatue-Diop, the devaluation of the CFA franc during her formative years caused her family and millions of others to endure financial devastation.

She added that cryptocurrency allows investors to hold assets without worrying about a government influencing its use. “This is the first apolitical money where people can genuinely gain access to the world economy,” she said. By using Ejara to purchase bitcoin, for instance, you can retain the asset in a noncustodial wallet and reduce the chance that geopolitical factors would affect its value.

By 2025, Chatue-Diop stated that Ejara’s goal is to have 10 million members on its platform.

She stated, “We want to debunk blockchain and cryptocurrency.” We want to make sure that customers don’t think it’s too difficult to understand since we believe it is appropriate for everyone.

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