December 10, 2024
A Biography of Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is a Nigerian entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Andela, an engineering-as-a-service business that assists companies in building remote teams quickly and cost-effectively. 

Aboyeji is also the founder and former managing director of Flutterwave, a technology that uses digital payment infrastructure that assists banks and businesses to build seamless and secure payments for their customers.

 In March 2019, Aboyeji founded Future Africa, an innovation fund that provides capital and coaching to innovators.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is a serial entrepreneur bent on unlocking Africa’s potential. The many barriers to success made it difficult for African businesses to reach the same scale as their Western contemporaries. 

Aboyeji saw the opportunity for leveraging technology as a way to remove these barriers and drive success. 

He first addressed the challenge of tech education with his company Andela and then payments with Flutterwave, driving solutions to create a lasting impact across Africa.

Life of “Iyinoluwa Aboyeji” At a Glance:

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Full Name: Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Date of Birth: March 28, 1991

Place of Birth: Warri, Delta State

Nationality: Nigerian

Place of Birth: Lagos, Nigeria.

Fields of Expertise: Entrepreneurship

Institutions: The Loyola Jesuit College, Columbia International College, the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Awards: 10 +

Net Worth: $12 million

Wife: Whittmey Agboola

Contributions: co-founded Bookneto Inc., co-founded Fora, founded Andela,former Flutterwave CEO 

Birth, Education, and Early Life of “Iyinoluwa Aboyeji” :

Aboyeji was born on 28 March 1991 in Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated from the Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, in 2007.

 From there he went to Columbia International College and obtained his degrees in International Development, Legal Studies, and Economics.

 After obtaining these he furthered his education at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where he earned a B.A in Legal Studies.

When Aboyeji was fourteen years old, he lost several comrades in an aircraft crash. This awful experience was the first time he saw the impact of society on people’s lives, and it caused a significant shift in his worldview.

 He got inspired to advocate for tighter airplane safety standards, and he began to see the private sector and entrepreneurship as potential change agents.

Another spark was a stampede in a Nigerian stadium in Abuja in 2014. 90,000 young Nigerians were battling for a job in immigration in this stadium, resulting in a stampede that cost many lives.

As a fellow Nigerian, the gravity of the youth unemployment problem and its consequences struck Aboyeji hard. 

After the incident, he questioned whether it was possible that everyone was going through the same thing and that no one felt they were worthwhile. 

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Did they believe this was their greatest effort? This led him to show that investment in young Africans may provide positive results for the global society.

Aboyeji saw the promise of technology and how it might improve people’s lives by giving everyone the ability to influence and create the future at a young age. 

He was disappointed with the difficulties imposed by politics, control, and organization while working at the United Nations in New York. 

He saw a contrast between his experience and that of a classmate who lived in Silicon Valley, where technology and commerce were unconstrained. 

He wondered if African youth might profit from technology in the same way that those in Silicon Valley did.

 During his experience as a serial entrepreneur, Aboyeji realized that Africa had various barriers that prohibited African firms from prospering, notably in the banking and education sectors. So he decided to answer them all using technology.

Career 

At the age of 18, Aboyeji worked as an intern at the World Youth Alliance (WYA) in the United Nations Headquarters.

 He then later ran one of Canada’s largest student-owned publishing houses, Imprint Publications, as President of the Board.

At 19, Aboyeji co-founded Bookneto Inc. alongside Pierrie Alrs. Bookneto is a social learning platform for sharing and organizing learning resources within learning communities. 

It allows users to manage course interactions and the ability to see questions, insights, and discussions on course material from students taking related courses at other schools.

After Bookneto Inc. was acquired by the Canadian Innovation Center in 2013, Aboyeji co-founded Fora alongside Ian Carnevale and Nadayar Enegesi. 

Fora enables African universities to grow by giving them access to online course content that is developed by professors at leading global institutions.

In 2014, Aboyeji met up with Jeremy Johnson, a technology entrepreneur, and they started a company called Andela. 

Andela invests in African software engineers to help companies solve the technical talent shortage and build high-performing distributed engineering teams. 

The growth of Andela attracted investments from both local and international investors, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and former US Vice President, Al Gore. 

Aboyeji was involved with Andela for two years before resigning and moving on to his next venture.

 Before he left Andela, the company had raised $24 million in Series B funding which was led by Mark Zuckerberg. 

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In 2016, Flutterwave was launched. Flutterwave is a payment partner for businesses that operate globally. It allows for payments to be made and accepted anywhere around the world on an integrated platform.

Aboyeji was involved with Flutterwave for two years as CEO before resigning on 15 October 2018. 

The company had by then processed 60 million transactions worth over $2 billion Aboyeji stated that he resigned to focus on giving back to the startup community he owes so much of his success to, as well as to dedicate his time to his family. 

He worked as the Deputy Director-General of Oby Ezekwesili’s, former Vice President of the World Bank, and Minister of Education for Nigeria’s presidential campaign from 2018 to February 2019.

Aboyeji is the founding partner of Street Capital, a business aimed at connecting global investors and philanthropists with entrepreneurs in Africa. Street Capital was founded in November 2018.

He became an advisory board member of the Share Africa Project in April 2019.

Aboyeji is a Board member and is part of the Finance and Strategy Committee for Rainbow Educational Services Limited, which provides high-quality education to students. 

He acquired this position in 2018. In 2018, he became a board member of FilmoRealty, a total property and facilities management services company.

In March 2019, Aboyeji founded Future Africa and became a General Partner of the company. 

Future Africa is a people-powered innovation fund that funds innovators at their earliest stages, focusing on investments in technology, media, and infrastructure spaces.

He is the founder and Chairman of Talent City Inc. and occupied this position in October 2019. Talent City Inc. focuses on providing the best quality of life for African technology talent that drives innovation and the digital economy.

In February 2020, he became a member of the board of governors at the Loyola Jesuit College.

Achievements & Awards

In 2010, Aboyeji received a John C Holland Award for Youth Leadership. This was awarded by the JC Holland Foundation.

In 2011 he was recognised as Nigeria’s top 20 under 20, awarded by Ynaija!.

In 2012, he was named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.

In 2015, he was recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 as “Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa.”

In 2017, Aboyeji received a West Africa Mobile Award.

Business Day named Aboyeji as one of the 50 Most Influential Nigerians in 2017.

New African Magazine listed him among its 100 Most Influential Africans of 2017.

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In 2018 he was listed as one of the Forbes 30 under 30 people under the Enterprise Technology section.

Aboyeji was listed as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders in 2018 by the World Economic Forum.

He was listed among the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent by MIPAD.

Building on the success of his prior firms, Aboyeji provided African entrepreneurs with opportunities and a path to education.

His most recent endeavor is the completion of the groundwork he created during his time at Andela. 

He understood, among other things, that, despite the evident promise of digital transformation, African enterprises continued to face the difficulty of digital payments.

Aboyeji understood, based on his work with Andela, that young African entrepreneurs could be helped to provide value to the world; all they needed was access to the global market and technical opportunities.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Net Worth

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Net Worth

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji’s net worth has been estimated differently in various sources. According to one source, his net worth is estimated to be between $200 million to $300 million. However, another source states that his net worth is around $10 million.

Additionally, as of 2021, his net worth was estimated to be $12 million.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Wife

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Wife

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji got married to his long-time girlfriend, Whittmey Agboola, on March 14, 2023. There is no further information available about his wife.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Father

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji was born to parents from Warri, Delta state, and raised in Nigeria. However, there is no further information available about his parents.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Church

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is a member of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria. He has been involved in various activities and events related to the church, such as seminars and gatherings with close friends, family, mentors, youth, and leaders.

In one of the events, he shared a message on service and sacrifice in the pursuit of godly success. Foursquare Gospel Church is an official Twitter account of the church, and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji has been mentioned in one of their posts, congratulating him for his achievements.

Social Media

Learn more about ANDELA and FLUTTERWAVE

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