Peppa, an online escrow firm, has filed a police complaint against Jude Dike and Temitope Ekundayo, the co-founders of GetEquity, a “marketplace for private capital” that helps startup founders receive venture funding from retail investors.
The police case is related to $43,000 Peppa raised using GetEquity, three sources told the media. The authorities detained GetEquity COO Ekundayo for two days in connection with the complaint, according to those individuals. After his release, GetEquity indicated it would sue.
A request for information was sent to the Alagbon division of the Nigerian Police Force, but they did not reply.
GetEquity told the media that the police report and co-founder’s incarceration were an “intimidation tactic,” as the business had previously paid $29,000 of Peppa’s $43,000. GetEquity says it paid the debt.
“We approached GetEquity to help us collect money from angel investors as part of a small family and friends round,” said a Peppa source who requested anonymity.
GetEquity would collect these monies for Peppa and a commission under that contract. “As our company had completed a Know Your Customer (KYC) process, our agreement stated that we could collect the money raised whenever we were ready, and it would be wired to us,” claimed Peppa representatives.
Peppa closed the investment round in July, according to two GetEquity employees. GetEquity could not pay upfront and provided a four-week payment plan when it tried to collect the funds. GetEquity broke that payment plan.
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GetEquity claims FX volatility compromised payment.
GetEquity CEO Dike remarked, “As a business, we’ve had to deal with high volatility in the Nigerian exchange rates.” He said GetEquity app investors fund his startup. Retail investments come in other currencies, but the platform compensates startups in US Dollars.
While the corporation accounts for currency rate volatility, “volatility of the Naira increased exponentially between 2022 and 2023.”
If an investor pays today, it takes two days to settle, and the US Dollar may have changed by N200.
It was true that Dike said, “This extreme volatility put us in a hole that we had to fix with our liquidity partners.” He said the company owed tens of thousands of dollars in payouts, but he didn’t say when its finances went terrible.
Dike, on the other hand, says that the company fixed the problem in the end and that it agreed with Peppa to spread out the funds. When the cops were called, GetEquity still owed $14,000.
PEPPA submitted a police complaint as a last resort following months of negotiation with GetEquity, according to one employee.
It was true that Dike said, “This extreme volatility put us in a hole that we had to fix with our liquidity partners.” He said the company owed tens of thousands of dollars in payouts, but he didn’t say when its finances went terrible.
Dike, on the other hand, says that the company fixed the problem in the end and that it agreed with Peppa to spread out the funds. When the cops were called, GetEquity still owed $14,000.
PEPPA submitted a police complaint as a last resort following months of negotiation with GetEquity, according to one employee.