Squord Academy

Welcome to season 2 of Squord Academy! We thank you all so much for following us through our journey with our first season and we look forward to putting out more impactful and educative content this season. This week we are discussing:

If you are interested in being a guest on our podcast, kindly email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. Thank you again for listening and feel free to share your comments.

Chude is the Co-Founder and CEO of Venco, a software management platform and digital toolkit for multi-household communities.

Venco was launched in January 2022 after it was spun off from its parent company and closed its first round of funding in Q1. We brought Chude on the show to share his story and how he founded one of the most exciting and fastest growing prop tech startups in Africa.

Christiana is not your typical fin-tech entrepreneur - she started off in the Agric-tech space with Indigi foods but decided to pivot to fin-tech after a huge realization during a brainstorming session with her team.

After some time deliberation with her partners on how difficult it was for Nigerians to save money, they decided to launch a platform that would enable Nigerians save money while earning interest. This is what led to MyStash, a company that was launched last year and has recently closed its $150,000 angel round. Although she's a co-founder, she operates as the COO of the company and they have managed to exponentially grow the team over the past year. MyStash has huge goals for the future and have set strong targets for themselves. They aim to raise their seed round to expand and reach more people later this year.

She has also taken time to educate herself about the fin-tech space and recently graduated from the DreamVC program which is designed to educate those looking to break into the VC space. 

Since the outbreak of the war, several sectors and countries have been affected. On this episode we discuss the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the Nigerian economy and what to expect in the next couple of months/years. We have already seen a dramatic increase in the price of oil, wheat, fertilizers and other products that Russia and Ukraine export and market experts believe these prices will continue to soar as long as the war and sanctions persist. 

This episode was recorded on March 13th.

Liz Grossman is an entrepreneur who works with world leaders, nonprofits, companies and academic institutions to create inclusive programs, develop successful brands, build community and facilitate meaningful connections to scale their impact. She has spent the past twelve years studying, working and living in Sub-Saharan Africa, with experience in over 15 countries. She is a sought after speaker on topics such as entrepreneurship, education, the future of work, intercultural communications and women’s leadership in Africa, who challenges audiences to consider the importance of intercultural collaboration and to accelerate equitable business and development projects.

Joshua Okpata is a Nigerian innovator and investor who has been influential to the entire African continent. As a youth, while in church, he birthed the idea of a platform that could make renting cars and equipment a lot simpler and safer for companies and individuals. He then pursued this idea with grit and determination and built it into what is known as Eazyhire today. Building a company like this in a growing economy, comes with a lot of risks but Josh was able to navigate a lot of them while building his company into a million dollar enterprise.

In 2016, Eazyhire was recognized as the technology startup of the year by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA). In 2019, Josh was recognized for his innovative skills and hardwork by being inducted as a Forbes 30 under 30 alumni. Also, in 2020, he was named one of Africa's 40 young and emerging business leaders under the age of 40 by Business Elites Africa.

After his exit from Eazyhire, the decided to use his knowledge and skills to help kickstart other interesting projects. He has since funded and supported impact-driven startups as an angel investor and in Venture Capital, managed a portfolio of over 60 companies from across Africa.

Currently, Josh serves on the innovation team at the UN World Food Programme and he spends his spare time volunteering as a tutor at the Chibuzor Okpata foundation.

Uzo who is often referred to as the Taco lady, was raised in Los Angeles in the United States, where she picked up her love for food as a kid. This passion led her to become the general manager of Chick fil a and Pieology Pizzeria before deciding relocate to Nigeria in 2017 to pursue her dream of starting a food business. After several deliberations, she decided to launch a mexican restaurant called El padrino with her little twist on it; all ingredients and materials would be sourced locally in Nigeria. El padrino, which is now seen as a lifestyle, has managed to build a loyal fanbase through their popups and well known “taco tuesdays”. Last year, during the pandemic, Uzo launched Su casa which is a software that provides tips on how to make several dishes.

Uzo’s ultimate dream is to transform the experience of residents and visitors in Nigerian that’s why the idea of Exp Lagos came natural to her. Exp lagos is a chance to experience a good night life in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, while maintaining the originality and the feel of what it takes to be Nigerian. Customers pay a flat fee and they get to drive around in a classic bus known as "danfo" while visiting several areas like bars and clubs in the city.

We brought on Uzo to the podcast to share her story on how she got started and what her experience has been so far as an entrepreneur in Nigeria.

We often underestimate the role that legal services plays in a startup ecosystem. Whereas in reality, the legal framework in a society, along with the quality of legal service available serves as the grease that lubricates the startup ecosystem and allows things to seemingly run smoothly. This is why it is important for us to speak to professionals in the industry and hear from them - their outlook, their concerns, and some secret sauce. In today's episode, we discuss with Oyeniyi Immanuel, a young legal luminary. 

Like many, Niyi chose to study law because he felt it was a good fit with his persona - witty, savvy, and critical. A decision that is paying off well. He shares his views of the legal framework across the continent, startup-lawyer relationships, and legal tidbits for startup investors. His legal advise and experience covers a wide range of sectors such as financial services, fintech, oil & gas, and real estate. He can be contacted via LinkedIn or Twitter (@moballerg)

In 2009, during the peak of the global financial crisis, Michael realized how bad the youth employment was in Nigeria. Although, his job as a Project Manager in Houston was safe. He began reading about global crisis to get a good understanding of how to make the best of the bad situation by capitalizing on it. After a couple of conventions and forums, he started LoftyInc Allied Partners with his friends to invest in early stage Nigerian startups with the sole aim of aiding the technological and economic growth of the nation. In 2011, few things happened and he  formed Wennovation hub to train unemployed youths in Nigeria mainly to become software engineers.

After a couple of years, he and his partners decided to launch a capital management firm under advisement of his mentor. This firm has since made investments in over 30 startups. LoftyInc Allied Partners and LoftyInc Capital Management. LoftyInc was one of the early investors in startups like Andela, Flutterwave, Printivo and many other disruptive african companies. 

Outside of LoftyInc, Michael runs Owonikoko Ranch & Farms, which is his agriculture business that specializes in cattle rearing, meat processing, maize and vegetable farming. 

Squord Academy is the part of the Squord initiative. Our goal is to bring awareness to Africa by getting investors and entreprenuers to share their stories on elevating the african economy and collecting some tips on how to make an impact with that space. This episode, we spoke with Tomi Ogundipe who is an IT professional in the U.S. to share his experience on investing in early-stage startups in Nigeria.