The Nigerian startup scene has exploded in the last decade, and at the heart of this growth are visionary founders driving change across fintech, edtech, healthtech, media, and more. In this post, we profile ten leading Nigerian startup CEOs and how they’ve built some of the most innovative startups in the country. These Nigerian startup founders are not just building companies; they’re shaping the future of business on the continent.
Top 10 Nigerian Startup Founders + Key Takeaways For SMEs
As a brand or SME looking to scale up, drawing insights and inspiration from those who’ve paved the way sounds like a smart strategy. Understanding the strategies of successful Nigerian startup founders can inform your business decisions, growth tactics, and even funding approaches.
Here are some of the top Nigerian Founders to learn from:
1. Odunayo Eweniyi – Co-founder & COO, PiggyVest
Odunayo Eweniyi is one of the most influential Nigerian business founders in fintech. She co-founded PiggyVest in 2016, a digital savings and investment platform that empowers Nigerians to manage money more intentionally. What began as a Twitter thread idea has now grown into a household name with over 4 million users.
Odunayo and her team tapped into the psychology of saving, something that resonates in an economy where traditional banks often miss the mark. PiggyVest’s growth is a testament to the power of customer-centered digital products, clean UX, and storytelling. Piggyvest is also very human-centered, seen in features like WAEC result, Saver of the Week, and their impressive community engagement on social media.
Key Takeaway for SMEs:
Solve a real pain point and invest in human-centeredness to make your brand memorable. PiggyVest’s rise is proof that when your startup solves a problem authentically, adoption follows.
2. Gbenga Agboola – Founder of Flutterwave
Known as one of the most prominent Nigerian entrepreneurs in tech, Gbenga Agboola (aka GB) founded Flutterwave to make it easier for African businesses to accept and process payments. Today, Flutterwave is a unicorn valued at over $3 billion, powering payments for companies across 30+ African countries.
Flutterwave is the go-to example when talking about Nigerian tech startup success stories. GB combined deep fintech experience with a global outlook, building strong partnerships with players like PayPal and integrating local currencies across the continent.
Key Takeaway for Brands:
Infrastructure matters. If you’re building a product or service for SMEs, think about scale and integration from the beginning. Flutterwave succeeded because it made it easy for businesses to do more business.
3. Mark Essien – Founder & CEO, Hotels.ng
Before Nigerian tech was mainstream, Mark Essien was already building. Hotels.ng, launched in 2013, is Nigeria’s leading hotel booking platform, with over 27,000 hotels listed across the country. Mark is known for his advocacy for local tech talent and his unique hiring strategies that rely on performance and remote work.
He bootstrapped Hotels.ng for a long time and only took strategic funding. He also built one of the early case studies of innovative startups in Nigeria with a clear monetization model from day one.
Key Takeaway for SMEs:
Start lean, but stay consistent. Building in Nigeria requires patience, and Mark’s story is proof that you don’t need to raise millions to succeed, you just need to solve problems effectively.
4. Uche Pedro – Founder of BellaNaija
Uche Pedro is a pioneer in Nigeria’s digital media space. She founded BellaNaija in 2006, initially as a hobby blog. Today, it is one of Africa’s most influential lifestyle and entertainment platforms, reaching millions monthly. Uche disrupted the media landscape by understanding her audience deeply. She brought structure and editorial direction to the Nigerian blogosphere long before it became mainstream.
Key Takeaway for Brands:
Content is currency. BellaNaija’s growth shows that brands can build influence by consistently sharing quality, relatable content. This aligns with what we preach at Astract, content marketing is not optional; it’s foundational.
5. Maya Horgan Famodu – Founder, Ingressive Capital
Maya Horgan Famodu is a game-changer in the Nigerian startup ecosystem. As the founder of Ingressive Capital, she’s not just building startups, she’s funding them. Her venture capital firm has invested in some of the most promising Nigerian tech startup success stories, including Paystack, Mono, and 54gene. With Ingressive For Good, her non-profit arm, Maya also focuses on giving young Africans access to tech education, tools, and jobs.
Maya has helped bridge the gap between global investors and top Nigerian tech entrepreneurs. Her work is rooted in making African innovation visible and viable.
Key Takeaway for SMEs
For SMEs and startup founders, Maya’s story is a reminder of the power of community and access. She saw a funding gap, and instead of waiting for solutions, she became the solution. She is shaping the future of African business, one investment at a time.
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6. Sim Shagaya – Founder of Konga & uLesson
Sim Shagaya is a serial entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with Nigerian tech innovation. He founded Konga, one of Nigeria’s earliest e-commerce giants, and later launched uLesson, an edtech platform focused on making learning fun and accessible for African students.
Sim’s track record is one of resilience. Even though Konga faced stiff competition and infrastructure hurdles, it laid the groundwork for the e-commerce boom in Nigeria. With uLesson, he pivoted to a completely different industry, education, and is once again leading innovation by combining African curriculum with gamified digital learning tools.
Key Takeaway for SMEs
Sim’s story underscores the value of adaptability. Markets change, tech evolves, and the most successful founders stay ahead by constantly reimagining what’s possible.
7. Mitchell Elegbe – Founder & CEO, Interswitch
Mitchell Elegbe is a pioneer in Nigerian fintech and the founder of Interswitch, one of the earliest success stories in Africa’s digital payment space. Founded in 2002, Interswitch paved the way for effective pricing tactics to increase revenue in digital financial services, becoming a billion-dollar company before the term “unicorn” was a buzzword in Africa.
Elegbe’s Interswitch created the foundation for many of today’s Nigerian tech industry leaders to thrive, by digitizing payments and making them secure and scalable across the country. For small business owners, this meant the birth of ATM cards, payment gateways, and later, consumer-friendly products like Quickteller.
Key Takeaway for SMEs
If you’re an SME thinking about how to integrate digital payments into your product or service, Mitchell’s impact is a case study in long-term vision. He built not for the moment, but for the future and that mindset continues to serve Nigeria’s economy today.
8. Tope Awotona – Founder & CEO, Calendly
Although based in the U.S., Tope Awotona is one of the most successful Nigerian startup founders globally. He founded Calendly, a scheduling automation platform used by millions worldwide, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. What started as a frustration with the back-and-forth of booking meetings became a world-class SaaS solution.
Tope’s success story is powerful because he bootstrapped Calendly before taking funding, growing it into a profitable business early on. His deep commitment to product simplicity and user experience made Calendly the go-to scheduling tool for professionals around the world.
Key Takeaway for Tech Entrepreneurs
Tope’s journey is an example of how solving a small, everyday problem can unlock massive global opportunity. He built something simple, but deeply useful, a lesson every digital business can learn from. Plus, in the world of B2B software, he proved that African founders can compete and win on a global stage.
9. Shola Akinlade – Co-founder & CEO, Paystack
Shola Akinlade is one of the most recognized leading Nigerian startup CEOs, thanks to his pivotal role in building Paystack, a fintech company that revolutionized digital payments in Nigeria and across Africa. Alongside Ezra Olubi, Shola launched Paystack to help African businesses accept payments online with ease.
The company’s user-focused approach quickly earned it a reputation as a trusted payment processor for thousands of businesses. In 2020, Paystack made headlines when it was acquired by Stripe for over $200 million, making it one of the biggest tech acquisitions in Africa. That exit marked a milestone not just for Shola, but for the entire Nigerian startup ecosystem.
Shola’s focus on solving local problems with scalable, reliable tech solutions speaks to what many Nigerian business founders aim to achieve, making daily business operations smoother for SMEs. His legacy reminds us that when African tech works, the world takes notice.
10. Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho – Founder, Futuresoft
Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho is a trailblazing tech entrepreneur and digital transformation expert. As the founder of Futuresoft, she has helped businesses leverage digital tools to improve productivity, visibility, and growth. With over a decade of experience, her firm has supported both SMEs and multinational organizations through website development, IT strategy, and digital marketing solutions.
Nkemdilim is one of the most prominent Nigerian entrepreneurs in tech who actively champions women in STEM and digital leadership. Her work embodies the possibilities that arise when innovation meets inclusivity. For SMEs looking to thrive in the digital economy, she is a reminder that transformation begins with strategic thinking and the right partner.
Whether it’s scaling through automation, improving web presence, or crafting better customer journeys, Futuresoft, and entrepreneurs like Nkemdilim, illustrate just how powerful digital strategy can be when it’s done right.
Final Thoughts
These top Nigerian tech entrepreneurs have shown us what it looks like to build with purpose and scale with strategy. For brands and SMEs, each of these Nigerian startup founders provides a real-world example of innovation, grit, and growth. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to level up, studying how these entrepreneurs think and operate can guide your next big move.
