Jessica Anuna was born to a Nigerian family and raised in London, where she earned a degree in Journalism from City University before completing a master's degree in Entrepreneurship and Financial Technology at the University of Cambridge. She began her career working for major online retailers including Net-A-Porter, Amazon and Shopify, developing a deep understanding of global e-commerce infrastructure.
While working in London, Anuna began studying Mandarin Chinese, eventually relocating to Shanghai to study at Jiao Tong University. There, she witnessed firsthand the speed of China's economic growth and the scale of opportunity in cross-border trade, before returning to Nigeria in 2016 to launch a sourcing business connecting African buyers to Chinese fashion and beauty suppliers.
Recognising a much larger structural problem — the difficulty of moving money and goods across African borders and between Africa and global markets — Anuna founded Klasha, a technology company building cross-border payment and commerce infrastructure. Backed by investors including Techstars, Plug and Play, Seedcamp and Greycroft, Klasha allows African consumers to shop from global retailers in local currency, and enables international merchants to accept African payments without opening individual country operations.
- Founded Klasha, backed by Techstars, Plug and Play, Seedcamp and Greycroft
- Built cross-border payment infrastructure live across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia
- Named to Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30 (2019)
- Delivered keynote addresses at the United Nations and African Union Commission
- Direct experience across markets reveals real gaps.. Her years working inside Western e-commerce giants and studying in China gave her a firsthand view of what African commerce infrastructure was missing.
- Start narrow, then solve the structural problem.. Her first sourcing business solved one transaction; Klasha was built once she recognised the underlying cross-border payment problem behind it.
- Global credibility can open local doors.. International investor backing from firms like Techstars helped establish Klasha's credibility as it expanded across African markets.