Olugbenga Agboola

Olugbenga Agboola
OON
Born1985 (age 40–41)
Lagos, Nigeria
Alma materUniversity of Westminster,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
OccupationsFounder, Flutterwave
Years active2018–present

Olugbenga AgboolaListenⓘ OON (born 1985[1]) is a Nigerian software engineer, entrepreneur, and business leader. He is the CEO and co-founder of Flutterwave,[2][3][4] Vice Chairman of the U.S.-Africa Business Center Board,[5] and a member of prominent business organizations including the Milken Institute Africa Business Leaders Council,[6] the Wall Street Journal CEO Council,[7] and the Fast Company Impact Council.[8] He launched Go Time AI, which is designed to support African startups building artificial intelligence products which offers up to $200,000 in funding and mentorship to selected startups.[9]

Educational Background

He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and an MBA from the University of Oxford's Said Business School. His educational background has contributed to his strong technical and business understanding.[10]

Career

Born in Lagos, Agboola is a graduate of the MBA program at MIT Sloan School of Management.[11] Prior to founding Flutterwave with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji in 2016, he worked as an application engineer at PayPal and held roles in product management at Google.[12] His earlier fintech venture, which focused on alternative payment methods, was acquired by a major Nigerian bank.[13] Agboola acquired Mono, a Nigerian open-banking startup founded in 2020, through an all-stock deal valued at between $25 million and $40 million.[9][14]

National Honours

Agboola was decorated with Nigeria's National Honour Medal of the Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) by President Muhammadu Buhari in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of technology, innovations and economic development. He was awarded the honour alongside Ameyo Adadevoh, Abubakar Abdullahi, Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu, amongst others.[15][16][17][18]

Recognition and awards

Agboola was listed on Fortune's 40 Under 40 list in 2020.[12] He was also on Time's Next 100 list in 2021.[19] In April 2022, Agboola received the Tech Investor of the Year award in the Business Insider Africa awards.[20]

In 2022, Agboola was conferred with National award of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Muhammadu Buhari.[21] In 2024, he was named ThisDay’s Young Global Leader of the Year, celebrating exceptional young leaders across different sectors.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Olugbenga Agboola | 2020 40 under 40 in Finance". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  2. ^ Whitehouse, David (2021-03-10). "Nigerian fintech Flutterwave to expand to North Africa after raising $170m". The Africa Report.
  3. ^ "Y Combinator, VCs, Endeavor: How global investors boosted Flutterwave's appeal". TechCabal. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  4. ^ "Iyin Aboyeji steps down as Flutterwave CEO as cofounder Olugbenga Agboola takes over". Pulse. 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  5. ^ admin (2024-04-30). "Flutterwave CEO, Olugbenga Agboola Named Vice Chair of US-Africa Business Center Board". FF News | Fintech Finance. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  6. ^ "Milken Institute Scales Up Engagement with Africa Through New Business Council | Milken Institute". milkeninstitute.org. 2024-07-23. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  7. ^ Grant, Anton (2023-05-25). "Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola Joins illustrious Wall Street Journal CEO Council". FF News | Fintech Finance. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ a b "Nigeria: Fintech Tycoon, Olugbenga Agboola's Shrewd Move". This Day. 2026-02-09. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
  10. ^ https://africa.businessinsider.com/tech-and-startups/olugbenga-agboola-ceo-of-flutterwave-angel-investors-are-keen-on/7h87j2k
  11. ^ CNBC |, Disruptors (2021-05-25). "21. Flutterwave". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  12. ^ a b "Olugbenga Agboola | 2020 40 under 40 in Finance". Fortune. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  13. ^ "Exploring payments in Africa with Flutterwave CEO GB Agboola | McKinsey". www.mckinsey.com. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  14. ^ "Olugbenga Agboola's Flutterwave acquires Mono for over $25M". Billionaires.Africa. 2026-01-05. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
  15. ^ Chukwuemeka, Ayomide (2022-10-09). "Flutterwave CEO, Dr Adadevoh, others for national honours". Peoples Gazette. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  16. ^ Daniel, Eniola (2022-10-12). "Buhari confers national honours on Flutterwave CEO, others". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  17. ^ Anyaogu, Isaac (12 October 2022). "Flutterwave's Agboola, Ovia, Elumelu among private-sector national honours recipients". Business Day. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  18. ^ "Buhari: Citizens Who Contribute to National Devt Deserve to Be Appreciated". This Day. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  19. ^ "Meet the 2021 TIME100 Next". Time. Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  20. ^ "Here are the winners of the inaugural Business Insider Africa Awards". Business Insider Africa. 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  21. ^ Oluwole, Victor (2022-10-13). "Top Nigerian business leaders conferred with national awards by President Muhammadu Buhari". Business Insider Africa. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  22. ^ Adewole, Segun (2025-01-07). "Flutterwave's founder named Among ThisDay's Young Global Leaders of the Year 2024". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.