Ex-BlackRock Manager Brings Wall Street Investing to Kenya

After five years helping wealthy clients grow their money at BlackRock, Radhika Bhachu noticed something when she returned home to Kenya in 2020. People were saving and hustling hard, but they weren't investing the way she'd seen elsewhere.

So she built Ndovu, a Nairobi-based wealth management startup designed to bring everyday Africans into capital markets. The vision is bold: within a decade, every African becomes an investor.

But reality arrived with a tough lesson last year. Like many businesses, 80% of Ndovu's revenue came from just 20% of its customers, the middle-income and above crowd already closest to investing.

The obvious business move? Focus on that group. It's the low-hanging fruit that helps the startup grow revenue faster and eventually serve everyone else.

"The vision is still everyone," Bhachu says from her Nairobi office. "But you can't do everything at once. It's just sequencing."

That tension sits with her daily. She started Ndovu to help everyone participate in wealth creation, not just those who already have money. But as CEO, she's learned that serving the masses requires first building momentum with those who are ready now.

Her childhood shaped this mission. Growing up Kenyan-Indian, she experienced two cultures: Kenyan kindness and community, and Indian long-term thinking about generational wealth. But nobody talked about money at the dinner table.

After losing her mother young, Bhachu started a paper route in Canada to earn money. That's when she learned making money is hard, but keeping it is harder.

Now she's working on solutions like a custodial product for children, where parents manage investments but kids can research and watch their money grow. It teaches budgeting and decision-making early, though capital constraints have pushed it down the priority list.

The Ripple Effect

Bhachu's work tackles a gap that affects millions across Africa. While people save diligently, they miss out on the wealth-building power of capital markets because traditional investment platforms weren't built for them.

By partnering with banks and mobile money providers to embed investment tools, Ndovu is creating pathways that didn't exist before. Each new investor learns skills that can pass to the next generation.

The startup is also exploring AI to streamline customer service and make investing even more accessible. Between fundraising calls and checking in with her distribution team, Bhachu stays focused on one question: how do we help more people matter in a world where having money determines who gets attention?

It's a long game, but she's playing it with the same patience BlackRock taught her about building wealth over time.