Author: Founder Africa

Founders don’t operate in silos. One of the most important things for a founder to be aware of is the vast ecosystem that needs to be in place for their business to grow. At Founder Africa, we see the ecosystem as a critical ingredient in the success of the founders we promote and inspire. This article presents our observations of the African startup ecosystem in recent years. It is the first of what will be a quarterly update. The African startup ecosystem has seen several notable events in the last three years. It has received much attention and…

Odun is the co-founder and COO of PiggyVest – the largest savings and investments app in Nigeria. She’s also the founder of FirstCheck Africa – an early-stage venture fund investing up to $25,000 for women founders in Africa. In this conversation with Founder Africa, Odunayo Eweniyi speaks on the idea behind PiggyVest, start-ups’ challenges, industry, and more. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?  I am Odunayo, co-founder and COO of PiggyVest. PiggyVest is a fintech company in Lagos, Nigeria that’s focused on automated micro-savings and micro-investment. I am also the co-founder of First check Africa which…

You’re known to be one of the most prolific Angel Investors/VCs in the African ecosystem. We’d like to know a bit about you and your journey. Kola: My name is Kola Aina. I used to introduce myself as an entrepreneur and an investor, but I am a retired entrepreneur now and a full-time investor. My foray into investing was as an entrepreneur but before that, as an undergraduate, I always felt like I wanted to become an investor. So, I remember registering a company then called Paradigm Diversified Capital Ltd. The idea was that I was going to provide capital…

This interview with Founder Africa tells the story of the friendship between Adebowale, Bright, Christiana, and Onyinye, and how their unique talents came together to make something brilliant. The four co-founders who studied together at NUTM revealed how a random conversation on another project led to my stash, what makes the idea unique, their journey, and advice to other entrepreneurs. Please can you briefly introduce yourself? Adebowale: My name is Adebowale Oparinu and I lead Growth at myStash. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Transport Management Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Akure.  I have previously worked…

In this Interview, Entrepreneur, Opeyemi Obembe shared with Founder Africa how his passion for strategic communication drove him into creating Engage Messaging a seamless yet personalized customer messaging and marketing automation platform that helps every company build relationships with customers. Please can you briefly introduce yourself? My name is Opeyemi Obembe, the CEO of Engage. I studied Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, Akure, Nigeria, and graduated about 10 years ago. I discovered my passion for Technology when I entered the university. I found it fascinating that you can think up ideas and after spending…

In less than a year, Gradely broke through and disrupted the educational space with a technology that closes students’ learning gaps in real time.  In this Founder’s session, Co-founder & CEO of Gradely, Boye Oshinaga shares with Founder Africa how the idea came to life, the challenges he encountered, and the milestones he is looking to achieve. If you enjoy the entrepreneurial spirit, stay tuned to learn more about what it takes to launch and run a start-up. Please can you briefly introduce yourself?  My name is Boye Oshinaga, I am the CEO and Co-founder at Gradely. Prior to…

“Don’t work for money, but let money work for you”. The first time I heard that phrase was probably in my early teens when an uncle was trying to teach me about getting rich. This uncle (Uncle B) was a wealthy man with a hugely successful manufacturing enterprise. Uncle B was one of the many non-biological uncles we grew up knowing. He was the first man I genuinely aspired to be like; his stories inspired me, and to this day, I can’t tell whether it was the content of his words or the almost physical encounter with the aura of…