Create an account

Opening an investor account on Ardent CrowdFund takes about five minutes and only asks for what SEC Ghana requires us to verify. You will leave signup with a working account that can browse live campaigns in read-only mode, full subscription powers unlock on the next page, KYC verification. This guide walks you through every screen so nothing catches you off guard.

Before you start

Having these three things to hand will keep the flow uninterrupted:

• A personal email address you check daily.
• A Ghanaian mobile number in international format (starts with +233, not the leading 0).
• A strong password, or a password manager ready to generate one.

If you are planning to invest from the same account, also have your Ghana Card or passport in reach; you will need it in the next step to finish KYC.

The five screens of signup

1. 1

   Enter your email or +233 phone

   Screen 1

   On the first screen, choose email or phone. Ghanaian numbers must be entered in international format, for example +233 24 123 4567. If you paste a number that starts with 0, we will offer to reformat it for you automatically.

2. 2

   Set a secure password

   Screen 2

   Your password must be at least 12 characters long, mix upper- and lower-case letters, include a digit, and include a symbol. We check it against the public HaveIBeenPwned breach corpus and refuse passwords that have appeared in known leaks.

3. 3

   Verify your email

   Screen 3

   We send a six-digit code to the email you entered. Type the code into the signup screen within 10 minutes. Didn't see it? Check spam, then use the 'resend' link, some Ghanaian email providers hold the first message for a few minutes.

4. 4

   Verify your +233 phone number

   Screen 4

   We send an SMS OTP to the phone number you gave. MTN, Telecel, and AirtelTigo all deliver instantly in most cases. Enter the 6-digit code and we mark your number verified; it doubles as an MFA fallback later.

5. 5

   Enable multi-factor authentication

   Screen 5

   Pick between an authenticator app (recommended: Google Authenticator, 1Password, Authy) and SMS fallback. Scan the QR code, confirm one 6-digit code, and save your backup recovery codes somewhere safe; they are the only way back in if you lose your phone.

You will land on your empty investor dashboard right after Screen 5. At that point you can already browse campaigns, set up a watchlist, and explore the documents vault, but every subscribe button stays locked until KYC is approved.

How Ghanaian phone numbers are formatted

Ardent stores phone numbers in E.164 international format, which for Ghana looks like +233 XX XXX XXXX. We accept any of these styles when you type them in, and normalise to E.164 automatically:

• +233 24 123 4567
• 233241234567
• 0 24 123 4567 (we drop the leading 0 and add +233)

Having a canonical format matters more than it sounds: the same number is used for MFA, payout SMS receipts, and (optionally) sending your subscription agreement as a copy. If you change networks later, update your phone number in Settings → Profile before your next subscription so payout receipts do not go to a number you no longer own.

Password hygiene, briefly

Your Ardent password protects money. Three rules, in order of importance:

1. Never reuse it anywhere else. Password managers exist because humans cannot remember a unique password per service. Use one.
2. Pair it with MFA. A password alone is not enough, an authenticator app is.
3. Change it promptly if any other site you use gets breached. We will notify you if your email appears in a new public leak, but you should act even if we do not.

Why SEC Ghana requires identity verification

Beyond the legal requirement, identity verification is what lets us confidently attribute a cap-table entry, a coupon payment, or an AGM vote to the right person. Without it, the register would be a fiction, and investor protections built on top of it, cooling-off, escrow refunds, pre-emption, would be unenforceable.

Common signup issues

A few things occasionally trip up new accounts:

• OTP never arrives. Check you used +233, not 0. If the code still does not arrive, wait 60 seconds and use the "resend" link; most delays are network-level.
• Password rejected. We block the 100,000 most common breached passwords. Pick something novel, ideally machine-generated.
• Email provider blocks our mail. If you use a corporate email, our verification message can be held for inspection. Add noreply@ardentcrowdfund.com to your safe-sender list.
• MFA step fails repeatedly. Your phone's clock must be within 30 seconds of real time for authenticator apps to work, resync the clock in your phone's settings.

Next step

Once your account is created, go straight to KYC verification to unlock the ability to subscribe to live campaigns.