Nigerian universities producing the founders behind top tech startups

According to BusinessDay, several Nigerian universities are producing a growing pipeline of entrepreneurs who are building businesses, creating jobs, and reshaping industries. Behind some of the country's most promising startups are institutions going beyond awarding degrees to breed entrepreneurial talent.

Obafemi Awolowo University stands out for producing African unicorn founders who studied engineering before building companies in the payments industry. Olugbenga Agboola studied Electrical Engineering at OAU before earning an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, and later co-founding Flutterwave in Lagos in 2016 alongside Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Adeleke Adekoya. Flutterwave became a unicorn in March 2021 after raising $170 million at a valuation above $1 billion, with a Series D in 2022 pushing that valuation to $3 billion. Tosin Eniolorunda, co-founder of Moniepoint, also studied Mechanical Engineering at OAU, entering the institution in 2002 and graduating in 2007. Eniolorunda and Felix Ike co-founded TeamApt in 2015, which was later rebranded as Moniepoint Inc and crossed a $1 billion valuation in October 2024. Felix Ike, the co-founder and chief technology officer of the firm, graduated with a first-class degree in Computer Science from the University of Lagos. Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude, and Ayodeji Adewunmi, who co-founded Jobberman, all graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University and launched the platform as students in August 2009.

Other Notable Institutions

Mitchell Elegbe, the founder and group CEO of Interswitch, graduated from the University of Benin with a B.Eng. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering before founding Interswitch in 2002. Lawrence Oba and Paschal Ugwuanyi, founders of Team Flameless, are graduates of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where they studied Mechanical Engineering. Musty Mustapha, co-founder and chief technology officer of Kuda Bank, obtained his first and postgraduate degrees in Computer Science from the University of Ilorin and the University of Lagos respectively. Lamba Danwawo was a student at Bayero University Kano and developed REINLIGHT, a portable, electricity-free water purification and disinfection system that won third place at the global Ericsson Innovation Awards 2022. Covenant University alumni Odunayo Eweniyi, Joshua Chibueze, and Somtochukwu Ifezue founded PiggyVest after graduating with degrees in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering respectively.

Experts believe that Nigeria's next generation of successful startups may increasingly emerge from university campuses where talent, research, innovation, and entrepreneurial ambition converge. Bribena Efriye, the chief executive officer of TAMIEF International Limited, stated that Nigeria must strengthen university-led innovation ecosystems to pursue economic diversification and technology-driven growth. He noted that the future of the startup ecosystem depends on which institutions equip founders to build resilient businesses, solve local challenges, and compete globally.