Cloud9, a Kenyan startup that offers digital banking services for businesses, has acquired social commerce platform Chpter in an all-stock deal, marking its second acquisition in three months after buying ticketing platform M-Tickets in May for about KES 100 million ($773,000). 

Cloud9 declined to disclose the financial terms of the Chpter deal. 

The deal reunites founders Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti with the company they left in September 2025 before launching Cloud9 weeks later. It also provides the clearest indication yet of Cloud9’s strategy: acquiring businesses where customers already transact, then layering financial services on top.

“The simplest way to understand the Chpter acquisition is that Cloud9 is building financial services around the places where people and businesses already transact, rather than treating banking as a standalone activity,” Mbaabu told TechCabal on Saturday. “Together, we plan to connect conversations, transactions and financial services in one ecosystem.”

Cloud9 has shut down the standalone Chpter app and will integrate its AI-powered sales tools for WhatsApp and Instagram into the company’s business banking platform. About 4,500 businesses using Chpter will continue operating through Cloud9, while members of Chpter’s product, engineering, customer success, and commercial teams have joined the company. According to Mbaabu, Mark Kiarie and Kevin Kuria, who led Chpter’s day-to-day operations after Mbaabu and Sibuti departed, will not join Cloud9.

The transaction was completed entirely in stock after about four months of negotiations. Mbaabu declined to disclose Chpter’s revenue or valuation but said the acquisition gives Cloud9 “a large customer base, very solid technology and a strong cohort of investors.” Chpter’s backers include Ventures Platform, Future Africa, Launch Africa, PANI, Reflect Ventures, Techstars, Renew Capital, Greenhouse Capital, Ajim Capital, Norrsken and Sunny Side Venture Partners.

Chpter raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding in 2024 to expand into Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt, but maintained a lower profile after its founders left to start Cloud9.

Mbaabu said acquiring Chpter made more sense than building similar capabilities internally.

“We acquired Chpter because it already has a proven product, customer base, commerce data and deep technical expertise in AI and social commerce,” he said. “Building this from scratch would have taken time in a fast-moving market.”

The acquisition gives Cloud9 another commerce channel alongside M-Tickets. While M-Tickets connects the company to event organisers and live entertainment businesses, Chpter brings merchants selling through WhatsApp and Instagram, creating more opportunities to offer payments, banking and other financial products.

Mbaabu described Chpter as “a major distribution and engagement layer” for Cloud9’s financial products.

“Cloud9 is now ready to expand beyond core financial infrastructure into the transaction journeys that generate meaningful customer value and better underwriting insight,” he said.

Cloud9 expects the acquisition to lower customer acquisition costs and create opportunities to sell more financial products to existing business customers. 

Mbaabu declined to provide a timeline for profitability or say when the company plans to raise additional capital.

“Our focus remains disciplined growth and sound unit economics, rather than making short-term profitability promises,” he said. “We will raise more capital when it meaningfully supports that plan and when the timing is right.

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