Kola is a seasoned Investor, Entrepreneur, Non-Executive Director and company Chair, passionate about
seeing start-ups grow. He brings demonstrable success from leading investment in over 70 companies in
Africa, India and the US, including payments companies such as Paystack.
Recognised as an entrepreneur, technology operator and investor with vast experience working in
Africa’s most significant economic market, he brings expertise across several sectors, including venture
capital, technology, media, agriculture, infrastructure, publishing and real estate and a significant interest
in the arts.
Through Ventures Platform Foundation, he works on advocacy, research and social impact initiatives that
support youth entrepreneurship and innovation. He is the Chairman of the Board of Ventures Park – an
artsy Co-working space, VP’s flagship Innovation Hub Campus. He is a mentor on XL Africa, the World
Bank Accelerator and Google Launchpad Accelerator. He is also a board member and advisory board
member of various organisations ranging from ARM Financial Advisers Limited, Reliance HMO and the
Yemisi Shyllon Art Museum.
Kola studied Electrical Engineering and then secured a Master’s in Business Administration degree with a
specialisation in Finance. He has received further education from Berkeley University, Harvard University,
and the Lagos Business School.
Kola is passionate about mentoring and advising young entrepreneurs who are creating solutions for
mass underserved -markets. This has put him on many stages both locally and internationally, where he
has delivered speeches, lectures, and talks on technology, entrepreneurship, social change, and various
other topics. He gave a TED talk at TEDxEuston where he spoke on the topic “Who will own our future
unicorns?”. He was also a speaker at Techcrunch's first event in Nigeria, Techcrunch Startup Battlefield
Africa 2019.
He has received multiple awards and has been featured in various lists such as The 20 most important
people in Nigerian tech, The ten most influential people in Nigerian Tech and #YNaijaPowerList2018 for
Technology and many more.
In his spare time, he enjoys writing on topics he’s passionate about in his blog or on Twitter, reading
books and spending time with his family.
2nd Keynote Speaker ( Day 2)
How The Power of Data Can Stimulate
Africa’s Tech Ecosystem Growth
