Venture capital is often defined by the investors whose names appear on term sheets and on event panels. But behind every investment decision, accelerator cohort, or founder support programme is a network of operators who help startups move from idea to execution.
Across Africa’s venture ecosystem, many of these roles are increasingly filled by women working across programmes, platforms, operations, and early-stage investing. They design founder support initiatives, structure early-stage deals, connect entrepreneurs to capital, and build communities that enable startups to thrive. Their work is rarely in the headlines, yet it is often the infrastructure that makes venture capital succeed.
This International Women’s Day, we spotlight a group of women whose careers sit at the operational core of African venture capital. From government-backed innovation programs and accelerators to angel networks and venture studios, they are shaping how founders are discovered, funded, and supported across the continent.
Ireayomide Oladunjoye
Before stepping into venture ecosystem leadership, Ireayomide Oladunjoye built her career in the public sector, helping shape one of Africa’s most active startup ecosystems from within. She joined Lagos Innovates as Executive Assistant to the Executive Secretary, gaining a close view of how policy, capital, and founder support intersect. She later became Head of Startups, a role she held from 2021 to 2023.
At Lagos Innovates, an initiative of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Oladunjoye led programmes designed to strengthen the enabling environment for startups and innovation-driven enterprises across Lagos. Her work focused on building initiatives that connected founders with capital, infrastructure, and regulatory support as the city emerged as a leading technology hub on the continent.
She now serves as Managing Director of Endeavor Nigeria, the local affiliate of the global entrepreneurial network Endeavor, founded in 1997 and now active in 42 countries. Since launching in Nigeria in 2018, Endeavor has supported high-growth companies such as Moniepoint, PiggyVest, Flutterwave, Autochek, and Carbon. Oladunjoye now helps scale these startups into globally significant businesses.
Lola Masha
Lola Masha is a partner at Antler Africa, where she supports founders in launching and scaling startups across the continent through Antler’s early‑stage residency and investment programs.
Before joining Antler, Lola built an operational career across technology and impact. She led regional operations for Bolt across East, West, and North Africa and served in senior leadership at OLX, including roles as Country Manager for Nigeria and Director of Trust & Safety.
An engineer by training, Lola holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BSc from the University of Virginia. She also played a key role at Babban Gona, a Nigerian agricultural social enterprise supporting smallholder farmers, where she served as deputy managing director and co‑founder, bringing market‑driven solutions to rural communities.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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Amanda Etuk
Amanda Etuk is an operator turned ecosystem builder whose career spans healthcare, logistics, biotech, and entrepreneurship in Nigeria. She currently serves as programme director at Cascador Nigeria, a leadership and venture-building programme supporting high-growth Nigerian entrepreneurs.
Between 2018 and 2024, Etuk was co-founder of Messenger, a logistics platform designed to help businesses coordinate deliveries while also providing financing for logistics operations, addressing one of the most persistent constraints for SMEs across Nigeria. Her operational experience also extends into the biotech sector, where she served as Director of Supply Chain at 54gene, helping build the infrastructure needed to support large-scale genomics research across Africa.
A pharmacist by training, Etuk holds a degree from the University of Lagos. Earlier in her career, she gained experience across healthcare and regulation, including roles at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Hygeia HMO, and Kwara Investment Promotion Agency.
Oghenekevwe Jefia
Oghenekevwe Jefia is a startup operator, investor, and ecosystem builder. A two-time founder, she launched Glow Effects, a natural skincare brand designed for people of colour, and True Skin, an AI-powered skin diagnostics platform built to address the lack of dermatological data for melanin-rich skin.
Jefia began her investment career at Impact Hub Lagos, where she served as Programme Delivery Officer and later Investment and Venture Support Lead. In that role, she worked across deal sourcing, due diligence, and transaction structuring, contributing to investments in startups including PressOne, Awabah, and Sidebrief. Her work focused on helping early-stage founders access capital and operational support.
Beyond investing, she has also worked on public policy as Content Lead for Nigeria’s Startup Act, helping translate ecosystem insights into national legislation. She now serves as a regional scout for the Impact Hub Network, identifying and supporting promising startups across the Middle East and Africa.
Chinyere Inya
Chinyere Inya has spent more than a decade working across operations, product, and venture building in both global corporations and Africa’s startup ecosystem. She is the founding Chief Operating Officer at Accelerate Africa, where she leads programmes, product development, and partnerships for the venture studio focused on building and scaling African startups. She also serves as Head of Platform at sister firm Future Africa, supporting founders beyond capital through networks, resources, and strategic guidance.
Earlier in her career, Inya worked as a product delivery manager at Bluewolf before moving on to JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ernst & Young. Outside of venture, she is an advisor to Boys Without Borders, an advocacy organisation supporting boys’ development through safe spaces for learning, mentorship, and connection during their primary and secondary school years.
Folakemi Osho
Folakemi Osho is currently General Manager at HoaQ, an angel investment community that enables individuals to collectively back high-growth startups across Africa.
Osho joined HoaQ as an executive assistant and steadily moved through venture and operations roles before stepping into leadership. Today, she helps oversee a platform through which more than 800 angel investors deploy capital into early-stage companies. Beyond facilitating investments, her work focuses on supporting founders as they navigate the early phases of building and scaling their businesses.
Trained as an accountant, Osho holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Covenant University and a master’s degree from Babcock University.
Zumah Yahaya
Zumah Yahaya’s work revolves around innovation programmes, entrepreneurship, and early-stage investing in Nigeria’s startup ecosystem. She is the Director of Programs at the Ilorin Innovation Hub, where she leads the design and execution of initiatives aimed at supporting founders, building technical talent, and strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem.
Before this role, Yahaya was Innovation Program Manager at IHS Towers, where she managed a partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy focused on training three million technical talents over three years.
She is also an entrepreneur. In 2016, she founded Boubid, a consulting firm that helps organisations refine strategy and execution across branding, product ideation, business process engineering, and corporate training. Yahaya also co-founded 1008 Angels, an angel collective backing creative entrepreneurs, and ePoultryNG, a platform that enabled individuals to invest in poultry farming ventures.
Damilola Teidi
Damilola Teidi is the principal and head of platform and networks at Ventures Platform, where she leads the firm’s post-investment strategy and works closely with portfolio founders to support growth. She is widely regarded as one of the leading platform operators in Africa’s venture ecosystem.
Teidi previously founded GoMyWay, a ride-sharing startup launched in 2015, where she served as CEO for two years. She later joined CcHUB as an incubation manager and rose to become director of startup support, helping design and implement programmes that accelerated early-stage companies. Over the years, she has led several initiatives aimed at strengthening founder networks and scaling startup ecosystems across the continent.
Feyisayo Alayande
Feyisayo Alayande brings a strong blend of banking and public sector experience to Africa’s venture and startup ecosystem. Her career spans roles in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, including positions at HSBC, FBNQuest, and Santander UK, where she built expertise in financial services and corporate banking.
She later spent six years at Letshego, rising to become head of products, digital and marketing, where she led initiatives focused on expanding digital financial services. Alayande also serves as the executive secretary and CEO at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).
