Iyinoluwa Samuel Aboyeji was born in Lagos to parents who were both reverends, and grew up between Lagos, Warri and Abuja. He attended Loyola Jesuit College before moving to Canada, where he earned a degree in Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo and St Jerome's University.
In 2014, Aboyeji co-founded Andela, a company connecting African software engineers with global employers, which went on to attract backing from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Google Ventures and SoftBank. Two years later, in 2016, he co-founded Flutterwave with Olugbenga Agboola, building payments infrastructure for businesses across Africa; under his leadership as Managing Director, Flutterwave processed over $2 billion in transactions and later achieved unicorn status.
After leaving Flutterwave in 2018, Aboyeji founded Future Africa, a venture platform providing capital, coaching and community to mission-driven African entrepreneurs, which has since invested in over 100 startups across fintech, healthtech, edtech, agritech and climate technology. He has also served as Deputy Director-General for a Nigerian presidential campaign and sits on Nigeria's federal digital economy advisory committee.
- Co-founded Andela, backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Google Ventures
- Co-founded Flutterwave, which processed over $2 billion in transactions under his leadership
- Founded Future Africa, which has invested in over 100 African startups
- Named to New African Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential Africans (2019)
- Build the infrastructure others will build on.. Both Andela and Flutterwave created foundational systems — talent networks and payment rails — that other African startups now depend on.
- Know when to step back.. Aboyeji left operational roles at both companies he co-founded, prioritising long-term institutional growth over personal control.
- Redirect experience toward the next generation.. Rather than starting a third company alone, he built Future Africa to fund and mentor other founders.