Cloud9, a Kenyan startup that offers digital banking to businesses, acquired Chpter, a Nairobi social commerce platform, in an all-stock deal. TechCabal reported the deal on 5 August 2026.
Cloud9 declined to disclose the financial terms, Chpter's valuation or its revenue. The deal was negotiated over about four months and paid entirely in Cloud9 shares.
Cloud9 has shut down Chpter's standalone app and is building its AI-powered selling tools for WhatsApp and Instagram into its business banking platform. The more than 4,500 businesses that used Chpter will keep access to the service through Cloud9. Members of Chpter's product, engineering, customer success and commercial teams have joined Cloud9.
What Chpter built
Chpter was built on the idea that many African businesses sell through conversations rather than websites. Its software let merchants talk to customers, run marketing and take payments on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and other channels, so that a buyer could ask about a product, confirm it was in stock, get payment instructions and complete an order without leaving the chat.
Chpter says its platform handled more than one million transactions since it started. It took part in the Safaricom Spark Accelerator, which connected it with Safaricom, M-PESA Africa and other partners.
“We acquired Chpter because it already has a proven product, customer base, commerce data and deep technical expertise in AI and social commerce. Building this from scratch would have taken time in a fast-moving market.”
A founder buys back his startup
Tesh Mbaabu co-founded Chpter with Mesongo Sibuti, Mark Kiarie and Kevin Kuria. Mbaabu and Sibuti left in September 2025 and launched Cloud9 a few weeks later, while Kiarie and Kuria ran Chpter's day-to-day operations. Kiarie and Kuria will not join Cloud9.
The deal brings Mbaabu and Sibuti back to the company they helped create. TechTrendsKE noted that the overlap makes the deal a related-party transaction, which can be legitimate but needs careful valuation and approval to protect investors on both sides. Cloud9 has not disclosed details of how the deal was governed.
Because the deal was all-stock, Chpter's shareholders received a stake in Cloud9 rather than cash, so their return now depends on how the combined business performs.
The funding
Chpter raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding in 2024 to expand into Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt. Its investors included Ventures Platform, Future Africa, Launch Africa, PANI, Reflect Ventures, Techstars, Renew Capital, Greenhouse Capital, Ajim Capital, Norrsken and Sunny Side Venture Partners. Mbaabu said the deal also gives Cloud9 access to that investor base.
Cloud9 has not said when it will raise more money or when it expects to be profitable. Mbaabu said the company was focused on disciplined growth and sound unit economics and would raise capital when the timing was right.
Why Cloud9 is buying
Chpter is Cloud9's second acquisition in three months. In May it bought ticketing platform M-Tickets for about KES 100 million ($773,000). Cloud9's plan is to buy platforms where businesses already transact, then add accounts, payments and other financial products on top. M-Tickets brings event organisers, while Chpter brings merchants who sell through social media.
Cloud9 launched its business banking platform in July, with multi-currency accounts, cross-border payments, virtual cards, expense management, invoicing and cash-flow analytics. After the integration, it says businesses will be able to manage customer conversations and campaigns, sell on WhatsApp, take local and international payments and pay suppliers and staff from one app.
Mbaabu said building Chpter's technology from scratch would have taken too long. Cloud9 expects the deal to lower its customer acquisition costs, and it plans to use commerce data from Chpter to help develop credit products for merchants.
The deal is part of a wider shift in African fintech towards combining financial services with the software businesses use to sell and run operations. Daba Finance pointed to Moniepoint's purchase of restaurant software company Orda earlier this year as a similar move. For Cloud9, the test will be whether it can move Chpter's merchants onto its platform without losing them, and turn them into active banking customers.
