Risevest CEO Guilty Of Sexual Misconduct And Power Abuse
According to a statement provided to TechCabal, Risevest founder and CEO Eke Urum was found guilty of sexual impropriety and abuse of authority following a six-week inquiry into charges of sexual and non-sexual misconduct.
“The evidence presented to the panel could not prove sexual assault by Eke Urum. However, the evidence presented to the panel, including admitted sexual relations with an employee and unwanted, inappropriate jokes and conversations, revealed sexual impropriety. It also showed a pattern of abuse of power, intimidation, retaliation and workplace bullying by him,” the statement reads.
Toun Tunde-Anjous, who served on the investigative team, said that they had advised Urum shouldn't be labelled CEO afterwards. Until the new board is formed and a new CEO is appointed, acting CEO Tony Odiba will continue. Urum will become a non-executive member of the new board and steer the investment strategy and offer technological counsel for the startup.
“As a leader, I have grown a lot over the years and still have a lot of growing to do, which is why I’m going to be taking additional coaching and executive training,” Urum told TechCabal in response to the findings of the investigation. “I regret the distraction that my actions may have caused and fully respect the integrity of the process the Risevest investors and the panel underwent to identify the gaps in our systems and my leadership.”
An investigating panel led by Tomi Davies and including Odun Longe and Toun Tunde-Anjous spoke with around 60 current and former employees for six weeks before concluding.
In addition, the investigating team suggested forming a board of directors immediately, with Urum, Tony Odiba, two investor representatives, and one independent member endorsed by both the founding team and the investment group. Formerly, Risevest lacked a formal governing body. Current SAFEs (simple agreements for future equity) should be converted into equity after the board is created, as recommended by the panel.
Although Urum owns most of the company, investors asked him to step down in August so that an inquiry by a panel constituted by the investors could be completed.
“Following allegations of sexual and non-sexual impropriety from someone who can be reasonably expected to have knowledge of such, investors of Risevest have asked Eke Urum to step aside from his role as founder and CEO, and an independent investigation is ongoing,” a statement shared with TechCabal then reads.
Urum has stated his intention to support acting CEO Tony Odiba while he makes the necessary adjustments to the Risevest culture to make it more appealing and inclusive.
You may recall that back in February of 2021, TechCabal published a story on how former Risevest employee Efe had written a Medium post accusing Eke of fostering an atmosphere where criticism was not tolerated. Efe, the former head of marketing for the startup, claimed that Eke had broken their contract when he dismissed her because she refused to work in the company's office due to COVID concerns. Eke had initially called the claims “blatant half-truths”. However, in a later interview with TechCabal, he admitted fault and issued an apology.
During the same period that Eke was accused of sexual harassment, an accusation he publicly disputed before this recent panel findings and conclusion, TechCabal’s investigation into the activities of Ebunoluwa Okunbanjo, founder and CEO of Bento Africa, a payroll management startup, culminated in a decision by the company’s board of directors to make Okunbanjo take a backseat in the management of the company.