FirstFounders Inc. has hired 11 faculty advisers who are qualified to conduct critical evaluations and provide startups with timely support.
FirstFounders is a venture studio that partners with early-stage entrepreneurs to build their Minimum viable product (MVP) and ensure that they are prepared for investment.
Speaking on the appointments, David Lanre Messan, the Chief Executive Officer, said, “This engagement with the faculty advisors serves as a metric to judge the quality of our startups by getting experienced professionals/business leaders to review and select the most suitable startups to benefit from our services at FirstFounders”.
He noted that the faculty advisors “are well-versed entrepreneurs and or experienced professionals who have a strong understanding of entrepreneurship, especially as it concerns the African market”.
The faculty advisors are: Bolarinwa David Ojo, the Head of Payment, Digital Transactions at Digital Extra. His experience cuts across sales, business development, ATM hardware, and software field engineering;
Lawal Africas, the Asuku 1 of Oloibiri Kingdom, Bayelsa. He is a management consultant and development expert.
Ahmed Odufuwa previously worked as the lead digital asset commercialization officer at Africa Fintech’s Founding Company. His experience spans across product management, and principal consultancy to mention a few.
Odibeli Emeka is the chapter director for Startup Grind and a business development consultant at the International Centre for Development Affairs.
Zion Thompson is a co-founder of Startup LaunchCode, and iVen Digital, a certified business process professional, strategist, and startup growth advisor.
Oghenero Ewherido is a corporate, finance, and tech startup lawyer with experience advising national and international clients. She is a lawyer with a result-oriented approach to problem-solving.
Kate Nyerhovwo-Ovwighose is a growth marketer at Founders Factory, working with startups to develop growth strategies and experiments to achieve sustainable growth.
Ilham Rzaev is a user acquisition and marketing expert who currently worked with Mondly. Also, he is the Chief Marketing Officer at Medico.az.
Michael Nyananyo is the CEO and founder of Tier Money, a global payment infrastructure company licensed in Canada and the UK.
Gloria Imevbore is a digital marketer and PR executive at Interswitch, with experience in digital marketing, and brand management and experience managing brands like Honeywell Foods, Mouka Limited, Mastercard Foundation, and Showmax.
Uchechi Agbaraji is a certified management accountant and one of the founding team members of Edukoya. She leads the company’s Tutor operations, with responsibility for businesses in Nigeria and UK.
According to Messan, the faculty advisors have expertise in a wide range of fields and are familiar with the peculiarities of early-stage companies.
He further stated that their engagement was intended to assess and counsel rapidly growing businesses on the quickly changing markets and to give startups with novel products and/or original business models valuable insight into managing market launches.
He said further, “We are looking forward to working with these faculty advisors, as they begin this journey with us and their expertise and skills will boost startups and promote the mission of the Company to build, scale and fund early-stage founders.
“Our mission is to build, scale, and fund a community of 1,000 Founders with MVPs by 2032, with 200 of these companies attaining unicorn status. At FirstFounders, we commit our resources to developing products/business ideas, constructing the technological application, raising capital, devising appropriate growth strategies, and providing the necessary mentorship and networks that are needed for expansion.”
FirstFounders Inc. also offers programmes that are specifically aimed at startups. They include the Venture Booth Program (TVB), which offers assistance to founders whose ideas require technical, business, and mentorship help.
Selected start-ups undergo an exclusive venture-building process that spans six stages of business development, namely: Business model creation, Product UI/UX design, product software engineering, growth channel development, fundraising tour, and mentorship/start-up advisor.
It also has a Capital Acceleration Program (CAP), which accelerates capital for 30 selected founders who have products and traction. One of the core benefits of the CAP is exposure and access to a pool of investors who are willing to invest in scalable businesses.
Firstfounders looks forward to working with these faculty advisors, as they start this journey.
“Our mission is to build, scale, and fund a community of 1,000 Founders with MVPs by 2032, with 200 of these companies attaining unicorn status,” Messan concludes.
