Damilare Ogunleye

Institutional entrepreneur with 15+ years building venture ecosystems, innovation programmes, and high-growth companies across Africa and the UK. Proven track record as both a founder, having raised over $2M in equity across ventures, and an institutional operator who designed Nigeria's first energy-sector innovation competition from scratch. Currently scaling a fintech infrastructure startup while advising Innovate UK's portfolio of 50+ SMEs.

Recognised as a Global Talent in Digital Technology by the UK Government, a Google Black Founder, an Alibaba eFounder Fellow, Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, and World Bank grant recipient. Speaker at ALU-hosted event; published in UNCTAD, BusinessDay, and Sifted.

Ecosystem Innovation & Growth Specialist at Innovate UK South East (2024-07 – Present)

• Coach and advise 50+ innovative SMEs on investor readiness, scale-up strategy, IP management, and market entry, contributing to nearly £30M raised across the portfolio.
• Design bespoke support plans, workshops, and ecosystem collaborations; connect clients to funding, UK investors, and international partnership opportunities.

Co-Founder at Stealth Startup (2025-12 – Present)

• Building next-generation fintech infrastructure for online commerce, focused on payments and financial rails for digital-first markets.

AVI Coach & Programme Designer at Ashesi University, Centre for Entrepreneurship (2025-10 – Present)

• Coach on the Open Innovation track of the Ashesi Venture Incubator (AVI), a year-long incubation programme, working with 5 active ventures to strengthen business models, investor narratives, and commercial readiness.
• Co-designed and facilitating the inaugural Investor Readiness Intensive (IRI), the first programme of its kind in the Centre's history, adapted from Innovate UK's Investability Intensive for the African context: a 4-week sprint for 14 alumni growth-stage ventures across fintech, cleantech, agri-food, and logistics tech.
• Investor Day convenes Microtraction, Ventures Platform, Cornerstone VC, Madica Ventures, and Hoaq Ventures.

Co-Founder & Director at TN Naija Ltd (2024-05 – Present)

• Co-founded TN Naija, a UK-based ecosystem organisation at the intersection of the diaspora community, startup ecosystem, and UK-Africa tech corridor, serving 600+ Nigerian tech professionals and Global Talent Visa holders across the UK.
• Leads Connect and Ignite, grown from 196 attendees at the inaugural event (Queen Mary University, 2024) to 350+ in 2025 with 15 speakers and an investor roundtable, showcasing 10 startups. CXI '26 targets 400 in Birmingham.
• Led Build Here Bridge Beyond (BHBB), a UKTCG-funded 6-month mini-accelerator for 30 immigrant and diaspora-led tech founders in the West Midlands, delivering investment readiness, founder circles, and Diaspora Connect Labs.

Co-Founder at FoodLama (2021-03 – 2025-10)

• Co-founded and scaled a food-tech venture, raising over $1M in equity from UHNWIs, institutional VCs, and Google for Startups (Black Founder programme).
• Led product development, market entry, and team building, leveraging AI and automation to drive growth.

Innovation Program Manager at Nigerian Oil and Gas Technology Hackathon (NOGTECH) (2019-04 – 2023-03)

• Designed the full NOGTECH framework, led the pitch to NCDMB, and created the research methodology, problem statement surveys, and evaluation criteria, securing $400K+ in annual government funding.
• Generated 630 applications in 6 weeks; built selection, incubation, and grant disbursement infrastructure; received formal commendation from NCDMB General Manager.
• Moderated NCDMB Innovation Spotlight webinar on 'Innovating for the future of Nigeria's Oil and Gas Industry'; delivered startup capacity-building workshops across cohorts.

Project Coordinator & Lead at Harvesters Entrepreneurs Forum (2020 – 2020)

• Led one of Nigeria's largest business conferences: 5,000 entrepreneurs, 16 speakers across 4 simultaneous Lagos venues, themed 'Re-Imagining Africa's Path to Prosperity through Innovation', with speakers including Mitchell Elegbe (Interswitch), Odun Eweniyi (PiggyVest), and Herbert Wigwe (Access Bank).

Product Lead at Hazina (2020 – 2021)

B2B SaaS to 5,000+ DAU; grew sales pipeline by $1M.

Marketing Manager at Lasiko Limited (2015 – 2020)

Grew active users 1,340%.

Senior Brand Strategy Manager at Verdant Zeal (2012 – 2015)

Managed $15M budget; improved ROI 25%.

Production Supervisor at Nestlé Nigeria (2010 – 2012)

Led team of 48; achieved 8% productivity uplift.

BSc in Chemical Engineering – University of Lagos

Certificate in Marketing – Chartered Institute of Marketing

Certificate in Business Economics – CIMA