Kenyan FinTech Cloud9 Acquires Chpter, Integrating AI for Social Commerce Banking

Cloud9, a Kenyan digital banking platform for businesses, has acquired social commerce platform Chpter in an all-stock deal. This marks Cloud9's second acquisition in three months, following its purchase of M-Tickets. The strategic move is aimed at embedding financial services directly into existing transaction ecosystems, rather than offering banking as a standalone service. Cloud9's founders, Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, are reuniting with Chpter, a company they previously led before launching Cloud9.

The acquisition will see Cloud9 integrate Chpter's AI-powered sales tools for WhatsApp and Instagram into its business banking platform. The standalone Chpter app will be shut down, but its approximately 4,500 business users will transition to Cloud9. Key members of Chpter's product, engineering, customer success, and commercial teams will also join Cloud9, leveraging Chpter's proven product, customer base, commerce data, and technical expertise in AI and social commerce.

This integration is expected to provide Cloud9 with a significant distribution and engagement layer for its financial products. By combining M-Tickets (for events) and Chpter (for social commerce merchants), Cloud9 aims to offer a broader range of payment, banking, and financial solutions across diverse business channels. The strategy is designed to lower customer acquisition costs and create opportunities for cross-selling, ultimately enhancing customer value and improving underwriting insights.