With Startup Battlefield Africa just two months away, US Tech media platform, TechCrunch has just unveiled two speakers for the event. Iyin Aboyeji, founder and CEO of Flutterwave, and Kola Aina, founder and CEO of Ventures Platform are two key speakers for the showpiece this December.
Flutterwave and Ventures Platform CEOs will join us at Startup Battlefield Africa: Startup Battlefield is returning to Africa this December. TechCrunch will be hitting Lagos, Nigeria, bringing with it our Battlefield competition and a day’s worth of… https://t.co/5qqLgQEeyF pic.twitter.com/T8qYYqmCXc
— Tony Rocha 🎥 (@RealTonyRocha) October 4, 2018
It’s no surprise that these two individuals were chosen as speakers for this event. Their pedigree is highly impressive.
Iyin Aboyeji is an entrepreneur par excellence. Before Flutterwave, Mr Aboyeji helped startup the developer training and outsourcing company, Andela. He was instrumental in bringing the company’s second base of operations to Lagos, Nigeria. And over the past few years, Andela has become a powerful force in IT in Nigeria and abroad. It has raised over $40 million from investors like Mark Zuckerberg.
After leaving Andela, Mr Aboyeji setup
"Back to the story of Iyin Aboyeji. Last year, he also founded his second company, @theflutterwave, a global payments technology company changing the way the world does business with Africa. Both companies founded before he was even 25!" – @idrisayobello #DigitalAfrica#Arcis pic.twitter.com/HcRKpkGCZa
— Wennovation Hub (@wennovation) November 29, 2017
Since its creation, Flutterwave has been playing a big role in opening Nigeria’s payments field. The company has partnered with several foreign companies to ensure Nigerians can make payments easily to anywhere across the globe.
One key innovation of the company is Barter, a virtual card for foreign transactions. Barter offsets the challenges Nigerians go through making payments abroad. It allows users to set up a VISA virtual card in a foreign currency to make payments.
Mr Kola Aina is another noteworthy individual in the Nigerian tech ecosystem. Focused on early growth startups, Mr Kola Aina’s Ventures Platform plays a key role in pushing tech innovations in the country. His VC firm runs a 16-week accelerator programme for selected startups. It provides the seed funding and mentorship in return for a 10% state in their companies.
Love this trend. Ultimately entrepreneurs, not governments or donors are our best shot at advancing across many sectors. Tourism, payments, healthcare etc… https://t.co/dMtSThq0fi
— Kola Aina (@kola_aina) September 30, 2018
Mr Aina and Mr Aboyeji are not the only speakers TechCrunch has announced for the Startup Battlefield Africa event though. Other speakers include senior partner at TLCom Capital and former Nigerian Minister of Communications Technology, Ms Omobola Johnson. Another notable speaker is Lexi Novitske, the principal investment officer at Singularity Capital.
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