Tesh Mbaabu has announced the launch of a new venture called Cloud9. He refers to this as a fintech startup that aims to redefine how young Africans experience banking. He previously co-founded MarketForce with Mesongo Sibuti.
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MarketForce began as a sales automation platform before evolving into RejaReja, a B2B retail marketplace helping informal merchants source and pay for inventory digitally. The startup went through Y Combinator and raised a $2 million seed round. It later closed a $40 million Series A round in 2022. The company shut down its retail operations in 2024, citing tough market conditions and the global funding slowdown.
Rather than retreat, Mbaabu and Sibuti have channeled their entrepreneurial energy into Cloud9, which Mbaabu describes as “a movement, not just a company.”
According to his announcement post, Cloud9 is building “a 10x better financial experience for young Africans, one that doesn’t just move money, but moves and elevates people.”
The startup is taking aim at what Mbaabu calls “broken banking” for Africa’s Millennials, Zillennials, and Gen Z, a demographic that’s tech-savvy, entrepreneurial, and mobile-first, but still underserved by traditional banks.
“We’ve lived these frustrations ourselves, clunky onboarding, hidden fees, inaccessible or exploitative credit,” Mbaabu wrote. “We’re building financial tools designed around how young Africans actually live, work, and play.”
Cloud9 plans to make payments and digital banking effortless and rewarding, with a vision of reimagining finance as a platform for “dignity, belonging, and opportunity.”
For now, Cloud9 has opened a waitlist for early users, with plans to roll out its first set of financial tools soon.
As Mbaabu puts it, “Cloud9 is about redemption in finance, restoring trust, re-humanizing banking, and creating products that reflect the aspirations of the people they serve.”
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